A firm with offices in both Glasgow and Manchester has come up with a way to prevent staff calling in sick as Rangers embark on their bid for Uefa cup glory tonight.

Workers at Esure insurance in Glasgow will swap their shifts with staff at the company's Manchester headquarters so they can watch the match.

The favour will be returned by staff in Scotland next week when Manchester United play Chelsea in Moscow in the Champions League final.

Adrian Webb, head of communications at Esure, said the firm had been surprised by the level of interest in both games. He said: "The offices complement each other for handling calls. It made sense to have reciprocal arrangements."

Rangers fans at the Famous Grouse plant in Drumchapel, near Glasgow, will also get to see the match after managers agreed to honour as many requests as possible from staff who wanted time off. It will be a normal production day in the bottling hall, as workers not interested in the game cover for those who are. Owners the Edrington Group came up with a similar arrangement when Celtic reached the final in 2003.

"We have received a lot of requests from fans who want to go to Manchester. It is a similar situation to what we had with Celtic in Seville.

"As responsible employers, we are accommodating as many as possible with holidays or unpaid leave."