Heywood achieves Real Living Wage accreditation

The Real Living Wage is the only UK wage rate based on the cost of living.  It is voluntarily paid by over 14,000 UK businesses who believe their staff deserve a wage which meets everyday needs – like the weekly shop, or a surprise trip to the dentist.

There are a broad range of employers accredited by The Living Wage Foundation including half of the FTSE 100 and big household names, including Nationwide, Google, LUSH, Everton FC and Chelsea FC, as well as thousands of SMEs.

In January 2024, it was confirmed that Heywood Limited joined this group of companies and became accredited by the Foundation.

The Real Living Wage is (currently) £12 across the UK (£13.15 London), it’s a voluntary minimum payment that covers all employees aged 18 and over (note that it doesn’t cover apprentices in their first year).

Further information can be found here: What is it? | Living Wage Foundation.

This idea was originally raised via Heywood's internal ideal suggestion portal 'Aha!' in May 2023, and the company recently took the opportunity to review the suggestion further.

Our accreditation means that whilst all Heywood colleagues already earn this minimum amount, we will work over the next three years to ensure our third-party contractors (who work with us regularly) also receive this rate of pay whilst working for Heywood.

Further to this, we will also ask our suppliers in the future to respond to questions about Real Living Wage so that we remain accredited and identify and ideally work with ethical employers as part of our social responsibility.