Industry leading pay rise for AG WorkFamily

Ambassadeurs Group (AG) has delivered a bumper pay rise for its heart-of-house staff, who are disproportionately impacted by rising cost of living challenges across the UK. The increase will take basic pay from £9.50-an-hour, the current lowest rate paid by the Group to workers, to £12-an-hour, a new standard for the Living Wage, internally known as the Living Wage PLUS.

The increase, which primarily impacts kitchen and hospitality staff, is some £2.50 an hour above the National Minimum Wage of £9.50 an hour. These rates represent almost £3,000 more per year in the UK than the standard rate across the country.

The bumper pay rise will be boosted by the additional benefits that come to all AG WorkFamily staff via good causes campaigns such as the recent Summer of Sharing campaign, which delivered £300,000 in contributions to good cause focused education groups. Such initiatives are designed to provide benefits to generous club members, external good causes and the entire WorkFamily. These campaigns, driven by the generosity of customers, create additional boosts which increase the average gross earnings per hour to an industry-leading £15-an-hour.

Kevin McGowen, chief executive, says these enhancements deliver a new minimum standard of compensation in the hospitality industry, in line with the Group’s approach to giving back. ‘It always starts with our WorkFamily,’ he explains. ‘Our heart-of-house team provide the very best support to our customer facing staff, these collective team efforts  continuously deliver a world-class experience to our members.’

The moves have been described as ‘levelling up in action’, because it goes so far beyond other employers in the hospitality sectors. All pay changes come into play from October 1, 2022.