We are one of only four law firms in the North West of England that are accredited living wage employers, a statistic that I believe is a real shame for the legal profession. Nevertheless, we are one of them and that is something our board are not afraid to shout about.

Over the years I have heard countless excuses for others not doing it, ‘we offer legal aid’ being one of the main ones. My response: over one third of our income is derived from legal aid and we still represent 1500 asylum seekers a year amongst other things. I understand that Legal Aid rates have failed to keep up with the rate of inflation, especially in areas such as crime who have seen large cuts. However, this should not stop us from paying all of our staff a fair, living wage.

Insider North West are holding an event tomorrow, ‘Putting People First’, helping business leaders create an environment in which employees go the extra mile because they are proud of the organisation that they are part of. This environment is very little to do with pay, nor is it about what we do. It is created from our ‘why’, why we do what we do, and if our people believe this is our genuine motivation. Well, ‘making a positive difference’ is our why and in our latest staff survey over 90% of our employees said that they understood our ethos and were proud to be a part of our business. So, why do we think it is important that we pay our staff the National Living Wage? For us it is a matter of fairness and opportunity, we want our employees across all levels to feel valued and satisfied in work and we believe that paying them fairly is one way of showing our appreciation for the hard work they do.

Looking back at the history of the ‘living wage’ when Labour first introduced it, it was opposed by the Conservative party and many business owners who believed that it would put them out of business. However, the concept was quickly accepted as people realised that it would reduce reliance on benefits, and it was in fact a Conservative chancellor who increased the figure by some margin. This however is still not enough to cover the cost of living in 2018. Labour are talking of increasing the rate to £10 per hour, which I believe will make getting a job worthwhile and is an effective way of getting people out of the poverty trap caused by the benefit system.

For us, being a Living Wage Employer is part of our ‘why’. It is both the history and the future of the living wage and the opportunities it can offer people that makes us proud to be accredited. Our newest employees, the ones at the start of their career are vital to our future and many of our older employees have been with us all of their working lives and now hold senior roles in the company, so paying them fairly is only right. We now also have our Training Academy so that we can support and nurture our employees further giving them the challenges and growth that is needed for work satisfaction. Our approach really does create a feel-good environment where our people go the extra mile. It is a positive, virtuous circle – at least we think so!