We are overjoyed to share the news that we have been accredited as a Living Wage Employer within our first 9 months!
“This was always a founding principle. We always maintained that you have to pay people fairly or it’s just not worth doing it. Getting all our teams up to LLW was one of our most important goals and we were determined to make it happen well within our first year. Thank you to all of our clients for getting on board and to all our teams for making people believe in them.” Francois Gautreaux, Co-owner and Managing Director
The real Living Wage is the only rate calculated according to the costs of living. It provides a voluntary benchmark for employers that wish to ensure their staff earn a wage they can live on. Since 2011 the Living Wage movement has delivered a pay rise to over 460,000 people and put £3 billion extra into the pockets of low paid workers.
In April 2016 the government introduced a higher minimum wage rate for all staff over 25 years of age inspired by the Living Wage campaign – even calling it the ‘national living wage’ and on the 21st November 2023, they announced their new ‘national living wage’ rates for 2024 as £11.44 an hour for those aged 21 and over .
This rate was, however, not calculated according to what employees and their families need to live. Instead, it is based on a target to reach 66% of median earnings by 2024. The real Living Wage rates are higher because they are independently-calculated based on what people need to get by. The rates are calculated annually by the Resolution Foundation and overseen by the Living Wage Commission, based on the best available evidence about living standards in London and the UK.
Whereas the Government’s ‘national living wage’ is a legal minimum and is based on percentage of average earnings, the Living Wage Foundation’s real Living Wage rates are voluntarily paid by employers and apply to anyone aged 18 and over. There is also a separate rate which accounts for higher living costs in the capital. A UK worker paid the real Living Wage earns an extra £1,092 a year more than someone on the ‘national living wage’ and someone on London Living Wage earns an extra £3,334.50. A national rate of £12 an hour and a London rate of £13.15 an hour means that unexpected costs such as a trip to the dentist are considered along with the weekly food shop.
Katherine Chapman, Director of Living Wage Foundation said: “We’re delighted that Bespoke Food Group has joined the movement of over 14,000 responsible employers across the UK who voluntarily commit to go further than the government minimum to make sure all their staff earn enough to live on.”
There is now a growing number of businesses voluntarily paying the real Living Wage, ranging from household names like Lush, Google and Nationwide to much smaller, independent businesses like ours. Our people are at the heart of what we do and whilst everyone loves an impromptu pizza party we believe that paying people enough to live on should always come first.
View the list of Accredited Living Wage Employers here: livingwage.org.uk/list-employers
