Portico has gained living wage accreditation, meaning its Portsmouth, UK based workforce will receive a minimum pay rate of £10.90 an hour.
Owned by Portsmouth City Council, the cargo handling business has 173 employees. It employs a range of staff, including warehouse and container operatives, facilities, health and safety and HR workers, crane drivers, customer account handlers and quayside workers.
The current government minimum hourly wage for over 23s is £10.42, but Portico has committed to paying the higher rate which is calculated based on the cost of living. This is despite the company being based in the south-east, where more than 9% of roles – around 374,000 jobs – pay below the real living wage.
Melanie Bunting, HR business partner at Portico, said: “We know all our staff working across the business are essential for the continued success of Portico and the excellent service our customers receive.
“By becoming an accredited real living wage employer it is the right thing to do by our staff. With many of our employees living in the local area, it will also benefit the local community as well.”
As well as offering higher pay rates, Portico employees also have access to benefits including an Aviva pension scheme, life assurance paid at four times salary, occupational health support, a cycle-to-work scheme, an electric vehicle scheme and an employee assistance programme.
The Living Wage Foundation, which is marking 20 years of the accreditation, revealed that 8,000 of living wage employers joined the movement after the pandemic began, with 1,500 doing so since the start of 2022.
Katherine Chapman, director of the Living Wage Foundation, added: “We’re delighted that Portico has joined the movement of over 12,000 responsible employers across the UK who voluntarily commit to go further than the government minimum to make sure all their staff earn enough to live on.
“They join thousands of small businesses, as well as household names such as Burberry, Barclays, Everton Football Club and many more. These businesses recognise that paying the real Living Wage is the mark of a responsible employer and they, like Portico, believe that a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay.”
