AN EAST Lancashire firm has become one of the first private firms in the region to sign up for the living wage since it was announced it will become compulsory next year.

What More UK Ltd, which employs around 220 people at its manufacturing and distribution centre at the Altham Business Park, is giving a pay rise eight months early to its lowest earners so no one will earn less than £7.85 per hour.

MORE TOP STORIES:

The minimum wage stands at £6.50 an hour, which sits alongside an optional living wage, which is not a legally enforceable pay rate promoted by the Living Wage Foundation.

It is calculated by academics as the level of pay that will give workers enough for a basic standard of living and stands at £7.85 an hour and £9.15 an hour in London.

What More UK, which produces the Wham brand of plastic storage, houseware and garden products, says most of its staff already earn the £7.85 rate at its Padiham base.

But bosses have handed the rest of the workforce an immediate increase in their pay packets.

Tony Grimshaw, director of What More UK Ltd, said: “We realise that our employees are our biggest asset, helping take us from humble beginnings in 1999 to a company with more than 650 superior products, a turnover of £47million and exports to 63 countries worldwide in just 16 years.

“It’s only right that we share our success with our hardworking colleagues at every level.

“Of course there are many jobs within the company that pay well above the living wage but we are proud to commit to it as our absolute minimum.

“Even new colleagues will achieve this pay level after a very short initial induction and training period.”

In this year’s Budget, Chancellor George Osborne put in place plans for a compulsory living wage from April next year for all workers aged 25 and above.

Initially, it will be set at £7.20 an hour, with a target of more than £9 an hour by 2020.