Creative agency St Luke’s has announced that it will provide staff with an entry level wage of £30,000 per year.
The new entry level salary, which was announced to all relevant staff before Christmas, is effective immediately.
The move marks an up from the London Living Wage which was paid by the agency at £25,643 a year, based on an hourly rate which is set by the Living Wage Foundation of which St Luke’s has been a signatory for a number of years.
It comes as the agency aims to address the current cost of living crisis faced by talent who cannot afford to live in London and work in the advertising sector.
In addition, the agency provides a range of initiatives including a childcare policy that pays up to £500 a month for up to three years, its Flying Start scheme which is the industry’s only positive action training scheme and “work away” weeks.
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The move from St Luke’s to introduce a minimum salary of £30,000 comes after fellow agency Pablo also did so last month in a move that was set to help ease the cost-of-living crisis that bars many from living in London.
“The impact of interest rate rises on student loans, the sharp increase in rents and inflation generally means industry entry level salaries are currently too low to attract the talent we need to deliver brilliant work for our clients,” said St Luke’s CEO Neil Henderson.
“We saw Pablo’s announcement of a £30k minimum wage and it chimed with conversations we had been having internally. It is a much needed move and we hope other agencies will join the initiative.”
