Five day week is ‘in many cases not fit for purpose’, says Atom Bank chief

The concept of a five day working week is “in many cases no longer fit for purpose for 21st century businesses”, the chief of digital lender Atom Bank said today as he hailed the success of a four day week at the firm.

Mark Mullen, who founded Durham-based Atom in 2014, rolled out a four day week for employees on a trial basis in November last year and that said today the move had boosted the financial performance of the bank and not deterred investors or customers.

“We introduced the four day week as a trial back in November and were clear that we would end the trial if there was a detrimental impact on customers, our people or on fulfilling our regulatory requirements,” he said. “For that reason, investors were happy with our outlook and approach to implementing the new working structure.”