CATERed celebrates living wage commitment

CATERed Plymouth's school meals provider has just been accredited as a Living Wage employer.

The Living Wage commitment will see everyone working at CATERed, regardless of whether they are permanent employees or third-party contractors, receive a minimum hourly wage of £8.25. This is significantly higher than the national minimum wage of £6.70 and the new minimum wage premium for over 25s of £7.20 per hour introduced this April.

The Living Wage is an hourly rate set independently and updated annually. The Living Wage 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; it is a social consensus about what people need to make ends meet.

Managing Director of CATERed   Brad Pearce said: “When we created CATERed as, what we believe to be, a unique local authority trading cooperative owned directly by Plymouth schools and the Council we knew that we were starting something special.

“We recognise that our staff are our greatest single asset and we believe wholeheartedly that by becoming an accredited Living Wage Employer we demonstrate to our existing staff and potential new employees that we value them all and, together, we are working to ensure the best possible conditions for all of our staff and improve the well-being of children and young people across the city”.

Employers choose to pay the Living Wage on a voluntary basis. The Living Wage enjoys cross party support, with public backing from the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.

Living Wage Foundation Director, Katherine Chapman said: “We are delighted to welcome to CATERed 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 2,600 leading employers, including CATERed, ranging from independent printers, bookshops 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."

All CATERed vacancies are advertised through Plymouth City Council’s  Recruitment pages. Roles on offer include catering assistant, catering managers and drivers for community meals. Full training and development is provided.

To find out what vacancies are currently available visit https://plymouthcitycouncil.engageats.co.uk/