JW Grant & Son Ltd has become accredited as a Living Wage employer.

The commitment will see everyone working at JW Grant & Son receive a minimum hourly wage of £7.85, rather than the national minimum wage of £6.50 – regardless of whether they are permanent employees or third-party contractors and suppliers.

"Our staff are our greatest asset, and vital to the success of our business,” said a spokesperson from the company. “By becoming an accredited Living Wage employer, we believe it underlines our commitment to ensuring that all our employees receive a fair rate of pay for their hard work and commitment to our company.”

Living Wage Foundation director Rhys Moore added: “We are delighted to welcome JW Grant & Son Ltd 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 over 1,000 leading employers, including JW Grant & Son Ltd, ranging from independent printers, hairdressers and breweries, to well-known companies such as Nationwide, Aviva and SSE. These businesses recognise that clinging to the national minimum wage is not good for business. Customers expect better than that."

The Living Wage is an hourly rate set independently and updated annually. It 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.