Britannia Anchor Helps Salford Become the First Living Wage City

Britannia Anchor is proud to be a Living Wage Employer, helping to make Salford the first place in England to get formal recognition as a Living Wage City. The Living Wage Foundation campaigns to ensure people are paid a wage that meets their everyday needs, without struggle.

The benefits of paying a living wage can be seen across many levels. Not only are employees able to live comfortably, but it sees money being put back into the economy. Businesses also benefit, with increased productivity thanks to improved employee wellbeing. They also find that it can be easier to recruit better quality staff, as people want to work for a company that values its employees.

Salford as a Living Wage City

Salford has been working towards becoming a Living Wage city since 2013 when the Salford City Council became the first local authority in Greater Manchester to pay the Real Living Wage. The Council won a Living Wage Champion Award in 2014 and has only been progressing since then.

Now, Salford has over 100 accredited living wage employers in all sectors. The aim is to have 20,000 people in Salford being paid a Real Living Wage by 2025, with a focus on the typically low-paid sectors such as hospitality and social care. Salford is also linking up with other locations across the UK to make it a real national movement.

Britannia Anchor as a Living Wage Employer

Chris Smallwood, owner of Britannia Anchor, a leading Salford removals company, recently won the Advocate of the Year award at the Living Wage Awards 2023, demonstrating his commitment to paying a real living wage.

In the below video, Chris Smallwood, along with Chris Dabbs of social enterprise Unlimited Potential and Rob Bulman of the University of Salford discuss the impact of paying employees a real living wage in Salford.

They point out how paying a real living wage to employees has seen improvements in sickness leave, staff retention, and productivity, which have all saved businesses money. In addition to this, employees feel valued by their employer, which in turn means the customers will feel valued.

Chris Smallwood says: “The idea that paying more wages means you make less money is just not true – we are living evidence.”

Also in the video, Gavin Ryan, Foreman at Britannia Anchor, discusses how the living wage has helped him create more structure in his life. Since receiving the living wage, his life has been consistently progressing and he has been able to live comfortably.

Watch the video now:

You can find out more about how Britannia Anchor is working towards a fairer wage across the removals industry on our Making a Difference page.