A summit hosted by Living Wage champion Guy Opperman, MP for Hexham, and KPMG Newcastle, saw Living Wage Employers across the North East come together to celebrate recent Living Wage successes in the region.
There are now 21 accredited Living Wage Employers in the North East, with this figure doubling in the last six months alone. The Living Wage Employers group will lead the drive to continue this growth in the run up to Living Wage Week 2014.
At the summit, newly accredited Living Wage Employer Traidcraft were awarded their Living Wage Employer Plaque and congratulated by representatives of other employers from across the Living Wage network.
Rhys Moore, Director of the Living Wage Foundation, said "We are so delighted to see the North East Living Wage Employers coming together to celebrate responsible employment and Living Wage leadership. We are particularly grateful to Guy Opperman and hope that others will follow his lead."
David Gardner, Director of Public Policy at KPMG, said "Fair pay isn't just fair play. Offering staff and suppliers a Living Wage can improve engagement and help people earn enough to afford the basics. From a business perspective, evidence suggests it's also good for productivity. At KPMG, for example, we have seen that becoming a Living Wage employer has helped improve retention and reduced recruitment, training and sickness costs amongst staff and contractors employed by our suppliers."