Care home owner Anchor becomes real Living Wage employer

Anchor, England’s largest not-for-profit provider of care and housing for older people, has become an accredited real Living Wage employer.

The care group employs over 9,000 colleagues and is the largest care and housing provider to achieve accreditation from the Living Wage Foundation. It has committed to paying colleagues the real Living Wage, following an annual pay review each spring – which is higher than the National Minimum Wage.

The real Living Wage is £10.90 across the UK (£11.95 in London) and is voluntarily paid to workers aged 18+ by over 11,000 UK businesses. It is a calculation made according to the cost of living, based on a basket of household goods and services.

Care worker: real Living Wage 'means a lot to me'

The care home group has already been paying its staff the real Living Wage, moving from National Living Wage hourly rates on 1 December 2021 for all roles across all services across the country.

Louise Barnard who works as a care team leader at Anchor’s Ashcroft care home in Undercliffe, Bradford said it was great to work for an employer which committed to paying the real Living Wage.

Louise said: “I love working at Anchor and supporting the residents who live in this home.

"I’m proud to work in social care and making a difference, so to work for a company which recognises and rewards the importance of my work by committing to paying the real Living Wage means a lot to me, especially given the increasing costs of living.”

A Living Wage Foundation accredited employer plaque was unveiled at Anchor’s head office in Bradford on 14 November.

Wage 'will support them through cost-of-living crisis'

Kate Smith, Anchor’s executive director of business services unveiled the plaque with Lisa Pearl, Anchor’s people director, and Marina Ageyeva, Living Wage Foundation programme manager.

Kate Smith, executive director of Business Services at Anchor, said the group aims to ensure that "staff are paid a wage that will support them through the cost-of-living crisis" and “hope it will attract more people to join the sector to ensure we continue to deliver high quality services for residents.”

Ms Smith said: “Last year, we believe we became the first large provider of care and housing to pay all our colleagues, whatever their age, at or above the Living Wage Foundation’s real Living Wage rate.

"We are committed to providing competitive rates of pay. We’re proudly not-for-profit which means every penny we make can be reinvested for the benefit of our colleagues and the older people who live in our locations.”

Anchor's announcement comes as research by the Living Wage Foundation and Smith Institute shows that if a quarter of those earning below the Living Wage saw their pay rise to the real Living Wage, the increase in wages, productivity and spending would deliver £1.8 billion pounds back in the UK economy.

The report 'Local Living Wage Dividend' also shows UK regions would see a major economic boost if a quarter of low-paid workers were uplifted to the real Living Wage. London would see the biggest economic boost (£208m), followed by South-East (£197m).

Katherine Chapman, director of the Living Wage Foundation, said: “Paying the real Living Wage isn’t just the right thing to do for workers, it’s good for business and the wider local economy too.

“In these volatile and tough economic times, paying the real Living Wage helps tackle in-work poverty and provides a vital economic boost to the UK economy. Through increased spending and productivity gains, the real Living Wage supports a high wage, high growth economy that we all want to see.

“With the cost of living rising, it’s never been more important for employers who can, to step up and provide a wage based on the cost of living. In doing so they’ll not just provide security and stability for their workforce, but they will boost the local economy too.”

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