The Real Living Wage

October Books has been proud to be a Real Living Wage Employer for a good few years now. The team are looking forward to an increase in April to £12/hour, up from £10.90/hr for the previous year. The Real Living Wage is the only UK wage rate based on the cost of living and 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.

When Clare, Jess, Joey and Jaquie started back in 2016 they were all on minimum wage. Achieving Living Wage status felt important in order to show that we value our employees and so we worked towards this goal over time. Feedback from some of our previous employees suggests that we should perhaps aim a bit higher than National Living Wage. In current economic circumstances any additional increase cannot be supported by the business so we won’t be doing anything about it in the short term but would like to consider it for the future. This is an important topic for community businesses and one that needs further conversation and thought if community business are going to be as attractive as other employment options. We welcome any thoughts or comments from other small businesses in Southampton or community businesses elsewhere, which might help the community business sector to grow and thrive in the future.