Chris Smith uses Life Leave to make “a fairy-tale come true”

Earlier this year, Chris Smith, Leasing Executive, was one of 90,000 fans watching as Luton Town won their spot in the English Premier League. With only a week’s notice, Chris used his Life Leave to get to London for the match, which “was a fairy-tale come true” and just one example of how our employee benefit is helping our people achieve true work life balance.

Chris Smith on the right at Wembley Stadium

Chris said: “I was born in England and went to watch a Luton Town football (soccer that is!) match for the first time in 1989, aged 12. It was Luton v Manchester United in the old first division.

“Since then, over progressive seasons, Luton was relegated to the fifth tier of the English football league – the league below Wrexham AFC for Welcome to Wrexham fans!

“Over the past 10 years, I have followed Luton from afar as they have risen like a phoenix from the ashes. Unbelievably, in May this year Luton was one game away from a place in the Premier League. All they had to do was beat Coventry. To put that into context, Manchester City pays one substitute player more than Luton pays their entire team, so it was a big “all”.

“One week before the game I secured a ticket to the match at Wembley Stadium in London.

“Without our Life Leave policy and the support of my Scentre Group team, I simply would have not been able to get there. The extra leave, and the support of my team to help me achieve the kind of work life balance that saw me in London within a week, was amazing.

“The game went all the way to extra time and penalties before Luton emerged victorious!! It was a fairy-tale come true.

“Having a policy like Life Leave, that enables you to take the time to do things you otherwise wouldn’t, is incredible. I’m already thinking that maybe I can use my 2024 Life Leave to watch a game in the Premier League?!”

Our Life Leave Policy provides eligible team members with an additional five days of paid leave per year, pro-rated for part-time team members, aimed at helping our people achieve a better work life balance. It is just one of our employee benefits designed to help our people thrive.