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| Hospitality Today | Oct/Nov 2016
Hourly pay in hospitality racing
ahead of living wage
The reality of hourly pay-rate inflation
has been shown in new figures confirming
that actual pay is significantly outstripping
new legal minimum wage thresholds.
Figures from Fourth Analytics on the pay
for thousands of hourly-paid UK hospitality
workers reveal that average rates have now
hit £7.71 – averaged across all age cohorts.
Consumer spending bounced
back in September
Visa’s UK Consumer Spending Index for
September showed consumer spending
bounced back. The Index reflects overall
consumer spending, not just that on
cards.
Kevin Jenkins of Visa commented:
“Economic concerns took something of a
backseat in September, with consumers
reverting to more traditional spending
patterns as they took advantage of the last
of the summer sun.
“Overall spend bounced back strongly from
a broadly flat August, and was the highest
level seen in the past five months at an
annual rate of 2.4%.
“Growth was once again driven by the
experience economy, as people spent more
on meals out, family holidays and trips to
the theatre.”
Quan Nguyen of Chi Cafe, London
commented: “September was a good month
for us, with sales improving following a
distinctly quiet August.
“Many of our regular customers returned
from the summer holidays, and we saw an
increase in passing trade from people opting
for a staycation in London.
“The warm and sunny weather might have
contributed, as people were more tempted to
leave the offices for a nice lunch in the sun.”
Average pay for over-21s in hospitality is
now £7.92. This rate is 72p (10.0%) ahead
of the national living wage (NLW) of £7.20,
a new rate that was introduced for workers
aged 25 and over in April 2016.
Mike Shipley of Fourth, said: “With actual
pay significantly outstripping the legal
minimum for all age thresholds, businesses are
clearly experiencing very strong employmentcost inflation. We expect to see the hourly-rate
average in hospitality hitting £8 in January
2017, and we could well see average rates
approaching £8.50 by April 2017.”
Fourth’s data shows that the actual average
hourly pay for all ages in hospitality (£7.71)
has risen by 12.6% in the past two years –
and is up by 24p in the three months since
June 2016 alone. Shipley added: “What’s
particularly striking is that the under-21s are
fast catching up, earning on average £1.53,
or 29%, above their legal rate. This could
be driven by wage parity policies, and also
general competitive pressure for good people.”