A regional publisher is to give its journalists an extra day off to celebrate their birthdays.

Newsquest has announced it is bringing in the policy, which will enable staff to take an additional day’s paid holiday on or around their birthday.

The policy is already in place in some areas of the business but will be introduced company-wide from the beginning of 2022.

Its introduction was confirmed in a message to all staff from Newsquest chief executive Henry Faure Walker.

Henry, pictured, said in his announcement: “A brief note from me to say that we are going to introduce an additional benefit for all of our staff next year whereby you will get an additional day’s paid holiday to take on or around your birthday.

“There are a few areas of the business that already adopt a similar approach and it works well, so we are going to implement this across the whole of Newsquest from the beginning of January.”

The move will affect some 1,700 staff across Newsquest who don’t currently benefit from the policy.

The company’s current annual leave entitlement is 33 days per year including 8 bank holidays.