Clear Channel UK is the first out-of-home media owner to become an accredited London Living Wage Employer. This commitment guarantees the London Living Wage will be provided to every Clear Channel employee working in the Capital. A representative of the company will also join the Foundation's Marketing Team to help encourage other businesses to join.
Matthew Dearden, CEO of Clear Channel UK, said: "We're proud to make this commitment, which is the right thing to do and reflects the way we run the business. Successful businesses are built by attracting and retaining great people and the London Living Wage helps achieve this. Clear Channel has committed to this fantastic initiative because it makes good business sense and because we take pride in the way we conduct ourselves as an organisation. We are now working to be certified as a Living Wage employer nationally."
Rhys Moore, Director of the Living Wage Foundation, said: "We are delighted to accredit Clear Channel, the first out-of-home media owner, as London Living Wage employers and support their plan to roll-out the Living Wage across the rest of their UK operations. We hope that the leadership shown by Clear Channel will encourage others in the media and advertising sector to consider how Living Wage accreditation can benefit their business. The best employers are voluntarily signing up to pay the Living Wage now. The Living Wage is a robust calculation that reflects the real cost of living, rewarding a hard day's work with a fair day's pay."
The Living Wage campaign has been running for ten years and has lifted over 45,000 people out of poverty. An independent study of the business benefits of implementing a Living Wage policy in London found that more than 80% of employers believe that the Living Wage had enhanced the quality of the work of their staff, while absenteeism had fallen by approximately 25%. 66% of employers reported a significant impact on recruitment and retention within their organisation.