Accredited from the Living Wage Foundation, it means that all staff – whether employed directly or contracted – will receive a minimum hourly wage of £10.20 in London and £8.75 elsewhere in the UK.
Claiming ‘staff deserve a fair day's pay for a hard day's work,’ managing director, Gordon Lauder, added: “Central Foods is delighted to have completed the official process to be recognised as a Living Wage Employer.
“As a responsible employer of more than 21 years, it seemed only right and proper for Central Foods to examine its wages policy to ensure that it was fair and actually gain official accreditation from the Living Wage Foundation.”
With the statutory minimum pay for over 25s set at £7.50 per hour (as of April ’17), the Northamptonshire-based company said its rates are ‘significantly’ higher.
Director of Living Wage Foundation, Katherine Chapman, 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, which is calculated annually to reflect the real costs of living.
“We are a movement of over 3,700 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 who recognise that the Living Wage accreditation is the mark of a responsible employer and they, like Central Foods, join us because they believe that a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay."