Vending machine operator approved as Real Living Wage employer

West Midlands vending machine operator Coinadrink Limited is an officially approved Real Living Wage employer.

The Real Living Wage differs slightly to the National Living Wage in that it is designed to remain flexible towards the real cost of living.

As the current economic climate remains perilous, the Real Living Wage ensures our employees are better equipped to deal with the ongoing headache.

Coinadrink has always operated from Walsall in the Black Country, and some research into our region unearthed an eye-opening statistic that propelled efforts to become a Real Living Wage employer in 2023.

13 per cent of all working people in the Black Country are paid less than what they need to get by, which is the equivalent of 320,000 jobs. As the cost-of-living crisis continues to soar, the firm felt they had a duty to employees.

After some research and analysis, they were able to increase everyone's hourly rate to meet the Real Living Wage rate - £10.90 per hour outside of London - ahead of schedule at the back end of 2022.

The firm said in a statement: “We have always wanted to make sure that Coinadrink is a great place to work. From subsidised food and drink on site to an approved apprenticeship programme that helps all individuals better their professional careers, our efforts have always been well appreciated.

“After all, we don't have an average length of service of 12.9 years for nothing�

“Our latest Real Living Wage accreditation is a pro-active sign that we will always have the best interests of our staff close to our heart.”

Managing director Tom Williams said “As a business we want to see our staff thrive, live comfortably, and in turn enjoy coming into work every day.

“We were seeing our staff directly being impacted by the rising cost of living and we knew we needed to do something about it.

“We feel extremely proud to now be accredited as a Real Living Wage employer.

“It is now up to us and our team to provide our clients with outstanding service at fair pricing with our usual personal touch, to ensure we can continue to grow and provide an annual pay review in line with Real Living Wage.

“One of my dad's sayings was: 'we pay people what we can afford and not what we can get away with.'

“I think he would have been proud of how we have continued to implement this.”