In 2013 Salford City Council became the first local authority in Greater Manchester to pay the Real Living Wage. Since then more and more Salford-based organisations and firms have followed suit.
In the same year, the council also launched Salford’s Employment Standards Charter which contains a specific pledge focused on paying staff the Real Living Wage, or working towards doing so.
Employers which accredit with the Living Wage Foundation not only commits to paying their directly employed staff the Real Living Wage but also to planning to pay its contractors the Real Living Wage – the only UK wage rate which reflects the cost of living based on a basket of household goods and services. Salford now has over 100 accredited employers.
In 2014 Salford City Council won a Living Wage Champion Award. These prestigious awards recognise Living Wage employers that contribute to communities and industries by implementing and celebrating the Real Living Wage.
In 2016 Salford’s Health and Wellbeing Board agreed to ‘work towards becoming a Living Wage health and well-being system, using evidence about the businesses and health cases for the [Real] Living Wage.’
In 2017 Salford City Council and NHS Salford Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), both accredited Living Wage employers, boosted pay to £8.30 per hour for home care workers in the city – well above the national minimum wage at the time.
In 2018 Salford Health and Wellbeing Board’s work in this area was recognised by the Living Wage Foundation at its annual national Living Wage Champion Awards when Unlimited Potential was presented with the Industry Leadership Award.
In 2019 Salford also won three national Living Wage Champion Awards for our work:
In 2019 Salford, working with the Living Wage Foundation, also launched its plan to become England’s first Living Wage city. The action group behind the plan is made up of representatives of local businesses, the council, the University of Salford and the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector.
In 2020 all Salford care workers received another pay rise to £9 an hour from 1 October, as another step by Salford City Council and the former NHS Salford Clinical Commissioning Group towards them receiving the full Real Living Wage.
In 2021 Salford had 68 accredited employers in the city with many more paying rates equal to or above the Real Living Wage without accrediting with the Living Wage Foundation
By 2022 Salford had 92 accredited Living Wage employers in the city.
Salford’s three-year action plan exceeded its initial targets and was refreshed to cover the next three years (2022 to 2025).
The action group’s aim is to increase the number of workers receiving the Real Living Wage to 20,000 and encourage employers in traditionally low paid sectors such as hospitality and social care to boost pay for their employees.
Salford now has over 100 accredited Living Wage employers and the Living Wage Action group continues to champion the cause.
At the 2023 national Living Wage Awards, the Living Wage Action Group won the Campaign of the Year for its work to encourage housing provider Anchor Hanover to accredit with the Living Wage Foundation. It was also shortlisted in the Living Wages Places Champion category.
Salford CVS won Third Sector Champion for continuing to promote the real living wage amongst voluntary and community organisations and social enterprises. It is the second time the organisation has won an award for its work on Living Wage.
And Salford businessman Chris Smallwood, owner of Anchor Removals* won Advocate of the Year for his tireless work in championing the importance of the real Living Wage.(*Anchor Removals has no connection with Anchor Hanover.)
Mr Smallwood’s company was also shortlisted in the Living Hours category which aims to tackle insecurity in the job market by guaranteeing minimum hours of work for employees and adequate notice of shift patterns with payment if the shift is cancelled within that notice period.
Every organisation which pays the Real Living Wage reports increased productivity and better staff retention because their employees feel valued. They find it easier to recruit staff as people want to work for an organisation which values them and customers value it too.
The real Living Wage also puts money back into the economy and allows people to live in dignity without worrying about making ends meet.
This page was last updated on 24 July 2023