Lush blasts UK Brexit uncertainty and says it will pay higher basic wage

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Mar 13, 2017

UK cosmetics company Lush is to pay its UK workers at least the National Living Wage and also said it is offering non-UK staff the opportunity to work in its factory in Dusseldorf, Germany, due to lack of clarity over their situation post-Brexit.

Some 20% of the Dorset-based company’s staff are not British and Lush said that after the Brexit vote they "suddenly felt unwelcome and understandably upset".

It said that more than 80 people have taken advantage of its offer of new roles in Dusseldorf.

The company also warned of higher taxes and threats to business growth when the country leaves the EU, saying it has flourished due to freedom of movement of people and goods. “The negotiation of new trade agreements could take years, but the risk is that we will be paying more import duties across the business,” it said.

It added: “With Britain close to full employment and with a severe skills shortage we are concerned that restrictions on free movement of people will impact the availability of both the skilled and the unskilled restricting future growth in both our UK manufacturing and buying facilities.”

And Lush said it “will be reviewing [its] options for growth outside of the UK.”

The company has almost 1,000 stores globally and fast-rising turnover that was just short of £400m in its last financial year.

It also said that it would start to pay £8.45 an hour to staff outside of London. The company has paid the £9.75 an hour for several years to staff in London but will now pay a higher rate to its more-than 3,500 workers in the rest of the UK too.

The UK’s minimum wage is currently £7.20 nationally but the National living Wage is the level it is estimated workers need in order to live without falling into debt.

Katherine Chapman, director of the Living Wage Foundation said the firm’s decision to raise its pay rates is “really significant”, especially against a backdrop of some major firms being revealed to have paid less than the minimum wage.