Member Article

Digital Agency shortlisted for Living Wage Champion Award

Sunderland-based digital agency Consult and Design has been shortlisted by the Living Wage Foundation for the Living Wage Champion Award 2014.

The award recognises employers that have made great contributions to communities and industries by implementing and celebrating the Living Wage, an hourly rate of pay calculated according to the basic cost of living using the ‘Minimum Income Standard’ for the UK.

David Van der Velde, MD at Consult and Design said. “Being nominated for Living Wage Champion 2014 is great recognition of our commitment to investing in the workforce, not only our current staff but by also providing opportunities to the next generation of employees.

“Guaranteeing to pay all our staff the Living Wage, providing ongoing training opportunities and working with local universities and colleges to recruit graduates and provide placement opportunities are just some of the reasons why we have a highly skilled and motivated team with great staff retention.”

Employers choose to pay the Living Wage on a voluntary basis. The Living Wage has cross party support, with public backing from the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. Consult and Design is one of the first accredited Living Wage employers in the region.

Living Wage Foundation Director, Rhys Moore said: “I would like to send huge congratulations to Consult and Design on being shortlisted for the Living Wage Champion Awards.

“The commitment of Living Wage Employers to responsible pay makes a real difference to families and communities across the country.”

The Award winners will be announced during Living Wage Week 2014, a UK-wide celebration and award ceremony taking place on the 2-8 November 2014, with one winner announced for each region of the UK. The awards are judged by an independent panel of community leaders from the Citizens UK Living Wage campaign.

Since moving into the Sunderland Software Centre in 2013, Consult and Design has created new jobs and developed partnerships with local organisations, such as Sunderland Software City and the city council.

The company recently launched the new website for See It Do It Sunderland, the city’s destination marketing portal and in July was host to the first ever Drupal Camp North East, attracting over 60 software developers and business people from all over the UK and Europe to Sunderland for a three day conference.

As leading experts in open-source Drupal software, the company delivers projects for local government and businesses in the region, as well as high profile work with the European Commission and clients in North Africa, Europe and the Middle East. The company is going from strength to strength with plans to continue to grow locally and internationally in the next year.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Amy Watson .