Member Article

Greenwich leads the way as businesses adopt London Living Wage

The Royal Borough of Greenwich has announced that over 100 businesses in the borough have signed up for its London Living Wage (LLW) relief scheme.

Beginning last March, Greenwich Council’s business rate relief scheme aims to offset the cost for organisations looking to pay their employees no less than £9.15 per hour by covering the cost of registering with the National Living Wage Foundation.

The scheme covers five years of subscription costs to the foundation, who are responsible for accrediting participating employers, and has now attracted 104 businesses in Greenwich.

This is up from just three businesses who were paying the LLW a year ago, and means the borough now accounts for over a quarter of the capital’s firms who are accredited by the foundation despite housing only 2% of London-based businesses.

Councillor Sizwe James, the cabinet member for business, commented: “Tackling the issue of low pay is a key element of our anti-poverty strategy – and promoting a Living Wage is key to the council’s priorities of economic growth and job creation.

“It’s fantastic that 104 local businesses have joined our campaign and have committed to paying their staff a decent living wage while enjoying the benefits of a discount on their business rates.”

So successful has the relief scheme been that the National Living Wage Foundation has now asked the council to put together a good practice guide for other boroughs.

The Living Wage movement has gathered pace in recent years, after the London Living Wage was developed in 2008 to campaign for fairer pay that matches the increased living costs in the capital.

Employers including Chelsea Football Club and GlaxoSmithKline have all signed up for the scheme which ensures their workers are paid at or above the current living wage rate.

Looking to promote your product/service to SME businesses in your region? Find out how Bdaily can help →