Household goods retailer PerfectHome has received formal accreditation from the Living Wage Foundation - reflecting the business' commitment to ethical employment.
The retailer, which has 67 stores across the UK and almost 700 employees, has made the voluntary commitment to pay all employees the Living Wage of £7.65 per hour as a minimum standard of pay.
Mike Sweetland, PerfectHome Chief Executive, said: "Our business rests on being a caring, service-focused retailer and a responsible employer. We value our people and felt that ensuring that all our employees are properly rewarded was the right thing to do. We are proud to be a Living Wage employer moving forward."
In order to achieve accreditation from the Foundation, PerfectHome needed to increase pay for a total of 51 employees including 17 part-time and 34 full-time permanent positions.
Employees across four roles directly benefitted: Driver/Installers, Sales Consultants, Cashiers and Warehouse Operatives. PerfectHome's third party contractors also had to be incorporated into the retailer's commitment in order to achieve the accreditation.
PerfectHome Cashier mum-of-one June Willey, who has benefitted from the retailer's Living Wage increase, said: "Honestly, this has made a huge difference to my household. Bills like utilities were going up and I have a mortgage too, so the increase really has been great news, news that will keep on giving each month in my pay packet moving forward."
PerfectHome worked with the Living Wage Foundation over a period of four months this year to qualify to carry the Living Wage Employer Mark.
Rhys Moore, Living Wage Foundation Director, said: "We are delighted to welcome PerfectHome to the Living Wage movement as an accredited employer. They are in fact the very first household goods retailer to commit to the Living Wage through our accreditation.
"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 950 leading employers, businesses which recognise that clinging to the national minimum wage is not good for business. Customers expect better than that."
The Living Wage (outside London) is £7.65 - significantly higher than the national minimum wage of £6.50. It 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.
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Notes to Editors
For more information about PerfectHome contact Diana MacCarthy at Judge & Howard on 0161 212 1614 or email diana@judgeandhoward.com