Putting the Living Wage to Work: Strategies and Practices in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs)

This report focuses on the Living Wage and its implementation by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the UK. Whilst the spotlight in recent years has largely been on large Living Wage employers (corporations and public sector institutions), very little is known about the operational and strategic decisions made about the Living Wage by SMEs. This is despite the fact that SMEs make up over half of the 2,800 employers who have signed up voluntarily to pay the Living Wage and, further, that 99.9% of all private sector businesses are SMEs, employing more than 15.6 million workers. As such, SMEs have a potentially important role to play in promoting the Living Wage in the UK economy.

This research report seeks to close this gap. Our report draws on survey research and indepth interviews with Living Wage accredited SMEs. Broad coverage of the UK was achieved, with companies in the Midlands, North East, North West, South, South West, London, Wales and Scotland represented in the sample. The companies in the research sample came from a wide range of sectors, with the vast majority operating in so-called lowwaged sectors such as hospitality, retail, social care and manufacturing. A particular value of our report therefore derives from the fact that we were able to gather the views of companies from sectors that are typically perceived as not being able to afford to pay higher than legally required wages.