Anchor, also known as Anchor Hanover Group, has announced that it will pay its 9,000 members of staff real living wage rates as of this month (December).
The organisation, which offers retirement housing to rent and to buy, retirement villages and residential care homes, including specialist dementia care, will pay the amount as decided by the Living Wage Foundation for all current national living wage (NLW) hourly rate roles across its entire portfolio.
Jane Ashcroft CBE, chief executive of Anchor, explained that the business, which caters for residents at 114 care homes across the country and operates in more than 85% of local councils in England, is committed to providing competitive rates of pay, an “excellent” range of benefits and “outstanding” opportunities to develop a career in a hugely fulfilling sector.
“We recognise that our achievements would not be possible without the efforts of our skilled and dedicated colleagues, and I would like to thank them for their continued work. Availability of a suitably qualified and experienced workforce is crucial to achieving quality services for residents, high levels of regulatory compliance and occupancy and therefore a sustainable and successful business,” she said.
The Living Wage Foundation increased its rates last month (November) to £9.90 an hour across the UK and £11.05 for those in London, from its previous rates of £9.50 throughout the UK and £10.85 in the capital.
Meanwhile, the NLW will go up to £9.50 an hour from 1 April 2022, which is a 6.6% increase on the current rate of £8.91. The national minimum wage for younger workers will also rise from £8.36 an hour to £9.18 an hour for those aged 21 to 22; from £6.56 to £6.83 for those aged 18 to 20; from £4.62 to £4.81 for under 18s; and from £4.30 to £4.81 an hour for apprentices.
