Influential City investors put pressure on 15 major companies to improve workers’ pay

Influential City investors have put pressure on 15 major companies, including Royal Mail and Just Eat, to improve workers’ pay.

Legal & General Investment Management, Hermes EOS and BMO are among the investors which have written to chief executives and urged them to pay staff the so-called ‘real living wage’.

This is higher than the Government’s national living wage, which stands at £8.21 per hour for over-25s and £7.70 for those aged 21 to 24.

The real living wage, which is a voluntary scheme, is based on calculations of what people actually need to live on. This is estimated at £9.30 an hour across the UK for anyone over 18 and £10.75 in London.

The push for better pay has stepped up since the financial crisis, with British workers being hit by slowing wage growth while pay for executives has surged.

Mara Lilley, campaign manager at Share Action, which organised the letters, said: ‘We’re pleased that this progressive group of investors is using its influence to ensure workers don’t suffer the indignity of just scraping by.’

Almost 40 FTSE 100-listed firms, including Burberry, Diageo, Barclays and Unilever, pay the real living wage.