KEVIN Morris calls for the living wage, which I fully support and both as an employer and more recently in a managerial position, I have always advocated paying above the industry average.

This has many benefits, working in an industry where skilled workers are in short supply this policy has the following effect.

1 Making the employee proud.

2.Making him expensive to poach.

3.Embellishing the reputation of the company as an employer.

4. Hopefully causing the employee to value his position and take care not to lose it.

5. Eliminating the cost of replacement

6. Continuity in production, quality.

In a bar, where people gather, quite often the subject comes to earning and a comparison of such. When one of my people say what they earn, this creates the reaction of "you must work for a good company".

Of course increased cost of employment, whilst to some extent could be borne by the employer, it also means it is passed on to the consumer and if we want higher salaries, we have to accept higher street price of goods. Less profit means, less dividends, which means lower pension fund income. So as you give with one hand, you take with another and somewhere between is a balance.

Its important to understand profit is not a dirty word, its what make the world go round.

Andrew Davidson

Bury