Member Article

North East Creative Group Makes A Stand For Employee Living Wages

Newcastle creative marketing services group Everything Different has been accredited as a Living Wage employer, a first of its kind in the North East within the digital sector.

The Living Wage commitment will see everyone working at Everything Different, regardless of whether they are permanent employees or third-party contractors; receive a minimum hourly wage of £8.45 - significantly higher than the national minimum wage of £6.95 and the new minimum wage premium for over 25s of £7.20 per hour introduced this April.

The Living Wage is an hourly rate set independently and updated annually. The Living Wage is calculated according to the basic cost of living using the ‘Minimum Income Standard’ for the UK.

Decisions about what to include in this standard are set by the public; it is a social consensus about what people need to make ends meet.

Ben Quigley, Group CEO of Everything Different Group, explains: “By paying the real Living Wage, we are voluntarily taking a stand to ensure their employees can earn a wage which is enough to live on. The Living Wage pays both our staff and also our suppliers’ employees, like cleaners for instance, at the real cost of living, not just the minimum wage. Good for us, good for our staff and good for the other people that work with us.”

Employers choose to pay the Living Wage on a voluntary basis. The Living Wage enjoys cross party support.

Living Wage Foundation Director, Katherine Chapman, added: “We are delighted to welcome Everything Different to the Living Wage movement as an accredited employer.

“The best employers are voluntarily signing up to pay the Living Wage now. The Living Wage is a robust calculation that reflects the real cost of living, rewarding a hard day’s work with a fair day’s pay. “We have accredited nearly 3,000 leading employers, including Everything Different, ranging from independent printers, bookshops and breweries, to well-known companies such as Nationwide, Aviva and SSE. These businesses recognise that clinging to the National Living Wage is not good for business. Customers expect better than that.”

Headquartered in Newcastle, with an office in London with nearly 60 staff, Everything Different serves national and international clients including Sky, L’Oreal, Carpetright, Barker & Stonehouse and Sage.

It was ranked as one of the top 15 largest Creative Agencies outside London by Campaign 2017 and was confirmed in the top 100 fastest growing technology companies list at the Northern Tech Awards 2017.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Jane Crosby .