Six different employers throughout Bracknell have signed up to the voluntary living wage scheme, new figures show.

The new “real” living page scheme has been established to combat higher cost of living applied to employees over 18 years old.

The rate, which is calculated by a group of economists currently stands at £9.90 per hour across the UK.

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For comparison, the Government's living wage stands at £9.50 per hour for people aged 23 and over, and £9.18 for over 21s.

The soaring cost of fuel, energy and food has put wages under the spotlight.

Katherine Chapman, director of the Living Wage Foundation, said the cost-of-living crisis has made increasing wages for the low-paid "more important than ever".

She said paying the living wage is not only "the right thing to do for struggling workers and families, but it’s also good for businesses, with employers benefitting from greater staff morale and productivity, and reduced staff absenteeism and turnover".

The list of companies that have adopted the real living wage is below.

  • Barcleys Bank PLC – Bracknell
  • Santander UK – Bracknell
  • Nationwide Building Society - Bracknell
  • Pilon Ltd – contractor providing planned maintenance for social housing sector
  • Esausive – Information technology solution for social housing sector
  • Pioneer FM – Facilities management and cleaning services

Across the South East, there are 892 real living wage employers, an increase from 285 in 2017.

Despite this, many UK workers are still on low pay.

The Trades Union Congress, a federation of workers' groups, said recently that this would result in an unprecedented drop in pay in real terms, with wages expected to rise by 5.3% over the same period.

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A spokesperson for the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said the Government is "determined to make work pay".

"We know the pressures people are facing with rising costs, which is why we have continually taken action to help households by phasing in £37 billion worth of support.

“In the long-term, we are committed to building a high skilled, high wage economy that delivers on our ambition to make the UK the best place in the world to work.”