A NEW service has been launched to help small businesses to retain key staff by providing a range of employee benefits such as life and health insurance.

Tendirectis offering subscribers commission-free services which can be purchased on line without any 'hard sell'.

Chief executive Graeme Manson said the retention of quality staff was important. "It is costly to train new recruits and costly to pay the hard cash to stop people from leaving," he said.

"A decent financial services package accompanying a reasonable salary can go some way to helping with staff retention."