A not-for-profit health firm has axed nurses’ annual bonuses after giving directors hefty pay rises.

Furious employees of Locala have come forward after The Examiner revealed chief executive Robert Flack’s £26,000 pay rise.

They have said despite the boss’s 27% pay hike their yearly gift vouchers worth just £40 have been scrapped.

An email sent out by the Kirklees firm to staff, seen by the Examiner, says the social enterprise cannot afford to reward its workers this year.

Last week it was discovered that Locala’s four directors were awarded a total of £66,000 in pay rises during the 2013/14 financial year.

Locala has now also confirmed that Mr Flack and one other director received a further temporary rise for their secondments to Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust. The amount will not be revealed until the 2014/15 accounts are published later this year.

Messages from managers leaked to the Examiner urge staff co-operation with the cost cutting.

A March 19 email from Head of Corporate Affairs, Chris Reeve, explains the vouchers will not be issued, saying “...the current financial year has proved far more challenging” than previous years.

It goes on: “We’re sorry ... but know you’ll understand.”

Locala has also told staff it is restricting – but not freezing – staff training and recruitment to unfilled vacancies.

An email from Robert Flack, whose pay rose from £95,000 to £121,000 in July 2013 and higher still in 2014, says: “There’s a real challenge with our finances at the moment, both in terms of the current financial year but perhaps more importantly regarding our ongoing expenditure.

“The amount we are spending has increased significantly and we need to bring this back down,” he added in the March 4 message to all staff.

A spokesperson for Locala Community Partnerships, based at Batley, said: “We are expecting to make a small surplus for the financial year just ended – 2014/15.

Locala offices at Beckside Court, Batley

“This has been achieved through the hard work and efforts of all of our colleagues during the course of a year when the number of contacts we’ve had with patients has increased still further.

“To ensure we manage our costs within an annually deflated income we have taken a number of measures to reduce our expenditure.

“These have included a temporary ‘slowdown’ in recruitment for posts other than those that are critical to clinical care and a reduction in non-essential training.

“We also let our colleagues know that we wouldn’t be providing a small value shopping voucher – as we have done previously.

“We remain fully committed to finding new and innovative ways to reward our colleagues.

“Their pay continues to reflect increases in line with the NHS Agenda for Change.

“Therefore, during 2014/15 all colleagues saw an increase in their pay.

“During the same period the Executive Directors did not receive a salary increase – having received an increase in July 2013.

“In 2014/15 two of our directors received a temporary increase in salary due to their additional responsibilities – resulting from Robert Flack’s secondment to Mid Yorkshire NHS Hospitals Trust.

“Their salaries reverted to July 2013 levels at the end of the secondment.”