Living Wage Employer title for Central Foods

The Northamptonshire-based company has joined thousands of UK businesses who have gained accreditation from the Living Wage Foundation.

Central Foods MD Gordon Lauder said: “We believe that staff deserve a fair day's pay for a hard day's work and are delighted to have completed the official process to be recognised as a Living Wage Employer.

“As a responsible employer of more than 21 years standing, it seemed only right and proper for Central Foods to examine our wages policy, ensure that it was fair, and go one step further and actually gain official accreditation from the Living Wage Foundation.”

The Living Wage commitment will see everyone working at Central Foods, regardless of whether they are direct employees or third-party contracted staff, receive a minimum hourly wage of £8.75 in the UK or £10.20 in London. Both rates are significantly higher than the statutory minimum for over 25s of £7.50 per hour introduced in April 2017.

Employers choose to pay the real Living Wage on a voluntary basis. The Living Wage enjoys cross-party political support. The real Living Wage is an hourly rate set independently and updated annually. The Living Wage is calculated according to the real costs of living.

Katherine Chapman, Director, Living Wage Foundation said: “We welcome Central Foods to the Living Wage movement as an accredited employer.

“Responsible businesses across the UK are voluntarily signing up to pay the real Living Wage now. The real Living Wage rate is annually calculated to reflect the real costs of living.

“We are a movement of over 3700 UK employers who together want to go further than the government minimum to make sure all their staff earn enough to live on. We have lots of small businesses as well as big household names like; IKEA, Aviva, Chelsea and Everton Football Clubs and many more.

“These businesses recognise that the Living Wage accreditation is the mark of a responsible employer and they, like Central Foods join us, because they too believe that a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay."