With the dual onslaught of inflation and high interest rates, Peoplevalue’s Advantage voluntary benefits solution has the real potential to maximize a person’s disposable income and combat the crisis of consumer confidence.

The most recent findings from market research company Nielsen and the British Retail Consortium revealed that a third of the population had major concerns over the British economy. Based on the thoughts of a thousand consumers, the UK Consumer Confidence index now stands at 79, the lowest score since the survey began in 2003.

The apparent lack of confidence was also coupled with a sense of pessimism. 55% of people felt that their own personal finances would be poor in the coming year, and when asked what they did with any spare money, 22% of respondents admitted to having none. The fact that one in five has no disposable income after covering essentials reveals the importance and relevance of voluntary benefits solutions like Advantage.

Peoplevalue’s Advantage solution provides employees with access to thousands of discounted products and services, maximising their disposable income and improving their quality of life. With Advantage, an employee can make significant savings on essentials and non-essentials alike. Categories include everyday shopping, travel, sports and leisure, entertainment, CDs, DVDs, videos and games, health and beauty, cars and discounted retail vouchers.

Though non-essential spending is down overall as a direct result of this crisis in confidence, 24% or respondents still spent their spare money on new clothes, 21% on out of home entertainment, 24% on home improvement and 14% on new technology. This is where Advantage comes into its own and demonstrates an employers’ dedication to its employees and their efforts to improve their quality of life.

Advantage can be customised and branded in any corporate image and seamlessly integrated into any existing program, significantly enhancing the overall benefits package. Fully managed by Peoplevalue, Advantage offers the maximum benefit without the need to commit valuable resources and a potent tool with which to combat the crisis of consumer confidence.

“We are confident that with Advantage, we have developed a market-leading solution with the real potential to improve lives” says Mike Morgan, MD of Peoplevalue. “Our dedicated content management team is alert to consumer habits. They have worked diligently and with a market awareness to create a valuable resource for employees who can benefit from real and relevant discounts in the areas of their spending. By saving them money and maximizing their disposable incomes, Advantage lets them get more out of life than they could normally afford to,” he concluded.