Berwick-upon-Tweed manufacturing organisation Allan Brothers has become a living wage employer as part of its commitment to improving working conditions and staff development.
As a result, all employees will be guaranteed a minimum income of £12 an hour which, based on a 38-hour week, equates to £23,712 a year. This is higher than the government’s £11.44 an hour national living wage for employees aged 21 and over, which would equate to £22,605 per year.
The real living wage is a voluntary benchmark set by the Living Wage Foundation and is calculated based on the real cost of living.
The firm pledged to pay the real living wage because it believes that its employees are its most important resource.
Morten Bach Valsted, managing director at Allan Brothers, said: “We’re proud to be an accredited real living wage employer. We appreciate that the cost-of-living crisis is causing a great deal of hardship for many people, so we wanted to make sure that our employees are better rewarded for their hard work.
“In addition, production operatives are being given the opportunity to upgrade their skills. To give one example, all our paint operatives have undertaken a six-month training programme to become highly skilled technical sprayers which comes with a higher salary. We are working with local colleges and job centres so that we can offer young people the best chance to earn a fair real living wage and to build their futures in a successful local manufacturing firm.”
