City investors call on listed companies to pay living wage, 10 December, 2018

A group of City investors with assets worth more than £180bn has written to listed firms including Vodafone, Balfour Beatty and Severn Trent urging them to pay all employees a living wage.

The chief executives of the utilities firms Severn Trent and United Utilities, homeware retailer Dunelm Group and telecoms firm Vodafone have received letters saying that paying the living wage to all staff and key contractors is the hallmark of a responsible business.

...Only 37 of the firms in the FTSE 100 are living wage-accredited employers, while the number of Britons earning less than the living wage has risen to around 6 million people, according to the Living Wage Foundation, which sets the voluntary pay benchmark.

...Severn Trent and Crest Nicholson said they pay the living wage to direct employees who are not on a training rate. United Utilities said it paid the living wage to all employees and was in dialogue with the Living Wage Foundation. Dunelm said it paid employees competitive rates, which are benchmarked against the wider industry.