Tax-Free Trivial Benefits: How Wildflower Seed Mixes Can Boost Employee Engagement and Biodiversity

Could a small tax-free perk for employees become a powerful force for nature? At Natural Shoots, we believe it can.

Most employers are familiar with the concept of trivial benefits—small, non-cash gifts given to employees that don’t trigger tax or national insurance liabilities. Under HMRC rules, these benefits must:

• Not be cash or cash vouchers

• Cost £50 or less per item

• Not be given in recognition of services or as part of a contract

• Be offered occasionally, not regularly

• Be under the £300 annual cap (for directors of close companies)

Think of a bottle of wine or a bouquet of flowers to celebrate a milestone. These qualify—and importantly, they’re tax-exempt, don’t need to be reported on a P11D, and avoid Class 1A National Insurance.

But what if we took that small gesture and made it meaningful—for the employee and the environment?

The Trivial Benefit with big potential

Here’s the idea: instead of chocolates or a bouquet of cut flowers, why not gift British wildflower seeds as a trivial benefit?

Not only are wildflower seed mixes a sustainable and thoughtful gift, but they:

• Fully comply with HMRC’s trivial benefit rules

• Are affordable and easy to distribute

• Encourage biodiversity and habitat creation

• Offer employees something long-lasting and personal

With our native mixed wildflower seeds, employees can create colourful patches of meadow flowers at home or in a local green space, whether in an urban, semi-urban, or rural location. It's a gift that grows—and makes a difference.

Revitalise Corporate Volunteering with Wildflowers

In 2024, over 80% of corporate volunteering days went unused across the UK. Common reasons include:

• Volunteering sites are too far from home

• Workload pressures

• Long management sign-off processes

• A confusing landscape of volunteering providers

However, we’ve seen a shift toward micro-volunteering—short, local acts of service that fit into a busy schedule. Whether it's tree planting, litter picking, or collecting a prescription for a neighbour, employees are more likely to take part if it’s close to home and personally meaningful. Planting annual wildflower seeds at home or in a nearby area could become one of those activities, too.

Gifting wildflower seed packets as a tax-free perk allows companies to support sustainability, boost employee engagement, and make a tangible environmental impact—all while remaining compliant with benefit-in-kind tax rules.

What Kind of Seeds Work Best?

At Natural Shoots, we offer a wide variety of high-quality UK-native seeds including:

• Annual wildflower seed mixes – for vibrant colour in the first year

• Perennial seeds – blooming year after year with minimal effort

• Yellow rattle seeds – perfect for establishing wildflower meadows at scale

Yellow rattle is especially valuable as it helps control vigorous grasses, creating the perfect conditions for other wildflowers to thrive.

Whether employees are sowing a few square meters of wildflower habitat in their garden or creating community plots, your company can track and report on this impact.

Colourful, Visual, and Measurable

We help businesses:

• Record which employees received and planted seeds

• Track how many square meters of wildflower meadow have been created

• Present progress through maps, dashboards, and impact visuals

• Enhance sustainability reports with real, measurable outcomes

By choosing British wildflower seeds as a reward, you’re giving more than a gift—you're building stepping stones for pollinators, creating ecological corridors, and helping restore biodiversity from the ground up.

A Win-Win for People and Planet

This approach is:

✅ Tax-efficient✅ Easy to implement✅ Engaging for employees✅ Effective for ESG goals

When employees see the wildflower seed mixes they planted bloom into colourful, pollinator-friendly patches, it creates pride and a connection, exactly what corporate sustainability should aim to achieve.

👉 Contact Natural Shoots to explore our Wildflower Benefit Packs for Employers today.