When Andrew Cope decides it's time to treat his staff for all their hard work, he does it in style.

White water rafting, camping trips and alcohol-fuelled away days in luxury country hotels have been among the treats organised in the past.

But when vehicle leasing firm Zenith announced record sales and profits of £1.8 million this summer, Mr Cope decided to go one better.

So this year's company outing is a long-weekend of skiing in the spectacular Swiss mountain village of Morzine.

Calverley-based Zenith, which manages a fleet of 10,000 company cars, is splashing out around £20,000 on the holiday for about 50 of its 65-strong workforce.

Today managing director Mr Cope insisted the holiday represented value for money for the business, which announced a 20 per cent rise in turnover to £35 million in July.

He said the firm tried to organise two different types of events every year for its staff and this time wanted to make an extra special effort.

"We wanted to do something that would be a bit of a challenge and would get them working together as a team, as well as getting us out of our usual environment," explained Mr Cope.

"It will bring everyone down to the same level and hopefully get people to team up with colleagues they might not ordinarily work with. It is about breaking the ice."

Mr Cope said the firm would virtually take over a hotel in the resort for the extravagant weekend.

But he was convinced it was a good move after so many of the workforce decided to sign up.

"It is a thank you but I think it will be good for the business as well," he said.

Mr Cope admitted that, when the idea was first suggested, it was thought to be far too expensive.

But he said it was easy to spend a similar amount on renting out a country hotel for the weekend.

"When we put it to the staff and almost 100 per cent of them came back saying yes, then we thought why not? It might cost a bit more, but it will be worth it. It's just about affordable," he said.

The company has big expansion plans in the pipeline for the next few years, with staff numbers expected to grow to 100. Zenith, which was only founded in 1989, has won a lot of contracts from blue chip companies and is attracting business from rival firms.

But Mr Cope insisted: "I don't want to give the impression that we are getting complacent because we certainly aren't.

"Our success has been due to a lot of hard work and we have had bad years in the past. We are well aware that this industry is very cyclical.

"There is a serious side to this trip and we want people to see each other in a different light, but, of course, we want to have some fun as well."

Kim Busfield, Zenith's customer services manager said all the staff were thrilled to be jetting off to Switzerland.

"We've had trips before, but never anything as big as this," she said.

"We normally go away for the weekend in this country so to be going to Switzerland is wonderful.

"About half of the group going have skied before, they will be off and away and the rest of us will be having lessons on the nursery slopes!"

Pictured are Zenith staff Tony Johnson, Shelly Lambert and Max Turner practising with their snowboard!