Little Beehive Nursery receive the Real Living Wage accreditation.

Three years ago, we set out a plan to bring our team members in line with The Real Living Wage Foundation’s calculated Living Wage and today, we can announce, We Did it!

The real living wage is the only voluntary wage rate set by an independent body that takes into consideration the real cost of living in Scotland, unlike the government’s Minimum and National Living wage, the Real Living Wage is set by the Living Wage commission and takes many factors into account to produce their “Real living wage rate”, a wage that they believe reflects the costs of living today.

In the past three years, the Little Beehive team have seen steady pay increases to bring them into line with the Real living wage today (£9.30), some members of the team receiving as much as a 29% pay rise over these three years.

The real living wage offers both employees and employers a range of benefits, from booted self-esteem and confidence for the team member to a more productive workforce for the employer.

The real living wage is currently paid by over 6,000 UK businesses with more than 180,000 workers receiving pay rises along the way.

Within the private Early Years sector, it is estimated that 80% of practitioners are paid below the Real Living Wage, while 50% of supervisors are too. While at Little Beehive Nursery, 100% of practitioners and senior staff will receive the real living wage as a minimum.

Sandra Davidson, Director, Commented “We are thrilled to have received this accreditation and be among a fantastic and growing group of businesses within the UK that see the value of their team. Little Beehive Nursery practitioners are some of the best in the country, and we believe what they earn should reflect that. We set this target for ourselves three years ago, knowing we wanted to be a real living wage employer for the new 1140 hours funding the government are launching next month. Early Years Education is a passion and a highly skilled vocation, many practitioners devote their lives to educating the next generation, and we want to make sure we do everything we can to retain the best to make sure we provide the best.”

Jack Evans, Living Wage Scotland Manager, commented “We are delighted that Little Beehive Nursery Group has joined the Living Wage movement, ensuring that all their staff across their multiple nurseries receive at least the real Living Wage of £9.30 per hour.

There are few more important jobs than educating and caring for the youngest in our society and it is fantastic to see Little Beehive Nursery Group rewarding their team for the complex and demanding work that they do.

We know that staff that are fairly treated and well-rewarded are likely to deliver a higher quality of service and we hope that other organisations follow Little Beehive Nursery Group’s lead and choose to pay the real Living Wage, which reflects the real cost of living.“