Three years on from adopting a four-day-week, Highgate IT Solutions remains (almost) unique in the IT channel.
The fast-growing, all-remote IT reseller operates a so-called ‘100:80:100’ policy, meaning its staff enjoy 100% pay for working 80% of the time, while maintaining full productivity – or at least, that’s the aim.
Critics have painted the four-day week as laziness, with the Taxpayers Alliance in 2023 launching a ‘Stop the Clock Off’ petition calling for its potential roll out across the public sector to be abandoned.
But the vast majority of the 61 UK companies that took part in the world’s biggest ever four-day working week pilot were satisfied that business performance and productivity was maintained, according to the 4 Day Week Foundation. Some 56 of them decided to continue with the policy after the pilot.
Founded in, 2010, Highgate recently ranked among the UK’s fastest-growing resellers and MSPs in Oxygen Fast-Growth 50.
It is almost unique in the UK IT channel (see here for another isolated example) in launching a fully paid four-day-week.
To mark its three years as a four-day-week business, Highgate Operations Director Jenny Latimer provides the answers on the five questions she faces most regularly from peers, partners and competitors.
1. Why did you introduce a 4-day week?
Coming out the other side of the COVID pandemic, everyone’s perspective of life and what was important had shifted. We recognised more than ever the importance of employee wellbeing, and the importance of time.
We set out to introduce a number of initiatives that supported employee wellbeing. And, when it came to time, we wanted to give our employees some valuable time back; time to spend with loved ones, time to spend on hobbies, time to spend any way they wanted! This led us to the four-day work week.
2. How does it work?
As our main motivator was around giving time back, we adopted the 100:80:100 model. This means 100% pay, for 80% of time, in return for 100% productivity. This saw our team’s hours reduce to 28 hours per week (seven-hour days), on the condition that productivity remained the same as a 35-hour week.
We remain operational five days a week, and workload is covered as required. Each employee has a buddy or buddy group, and they work together to plan their days off. It is just like how many companies manage annual leave, the buddy/buddy group is responsible for covering their buddy’s workload once a week. It’s that simple.
3. Does it actually work?
Yes! It’s been three years (1st April 2022) since we introduced a 4-day work week, and as a company we’re going stronger than ever!
From a business point of view, last year we saw revenues grow from £15m to £22m. Our headcount has increased across all departments too, going from 16 in April 2022 when we introduced a four-day week, to 38 in 2024.
From an employee perspective, the feedback we’ve received has been extremely positive. We carried out a survey recently, and 100% of employees said their work/life balance had improved since working a four-day week. 96% said they felt more productive, while the rest felt the same [as before]. And, 96% said they feel team collaboration continues to work well.
4. What challenges have you faced?
Although we tried to be as meticulous as possible before introducing a four-day work week, inevitably, there were some scenarios that cropped up along the way that meant we needed to tweak the four-day week guidelines. We spent the first six months in a trial period, seeing how it went, making changes as needed, and also monitoring the impact on employees (we ran a psychological assessment for all participants).
There were other little things too, like an unexpected absence, whilst someone’s buddy is on a four-day week and what does that mean, who can cover, etc.
The operations team had to be cross trained across roles too, to ensure adequate cover was always available. However, this has been beneficial in the long run.
5. What are the biggest benefits of having a 4dw?
Our operations team are now cross trained across a number of roles, meaning we can balance workloads very effectively. It has also helped the team with a wider understanding of business functions, and therefore levels of collaboration and innovation have never been higher.
With four-day week being a flexible working model, we are more inclusive as a result and this has contributed to our higher-than-average women-to-men employee ratios (46% women).
We also benefit from a very low turnover of employees, and high levels of interest when we recruit.
We were named one of the Top 100 UK’s Best Workplaces 2025, by Great Place to Work. I believe having a four-day work week, and the uniqueness it brings to work/life balance, will have directly contributed to this.
So… have I converted you?!
