Lede
“Look! We raised wages.” Three years, three crumbs, and the only reason was the law, not generosity.

What does not make sense

• Year one: “We lifted the bottom role to meet the minimum.” Prize applause for doing what’s must by law.
• Year two: “We can’t let the gap shrink, so here’s another £1.” Company logic: pay what you have to, and pretend you’re doing us a favour.
• Year three: “Barely £0.70, but we’re still ahead… barely.” Everyone’s poorer, yet the CEO beams on the earnings call.
• The media and the board cheer budgets like they’re redistributing wealth. No. They’re managing appearances.

Sense check

If a company can manage queues, margins, and market slides, it can redistribute a small annual pay rise, if it chooses. But transparency and courage? That costs more than a hashtag.

The sketch

Scene one: CEO on stage, “A billion in profits. Your £1 please.”
Scene two: HR memo “Raise = mandatory. Cheers.”
Scene three: A worker sits at the kitchen table, bills stacked higher than the payslip, a carton of juice priced double last year.

What to watch, not the show

• Minimum wage hikes passed through, trimmed at every band.
• CEOs saying “compassion” but choosing “compliance.”
• Real wages falling while numbers stay round.
• Lives shrinking as argument margins don’t.

The Hermit take

Raise, yes, but raise wages by design, not by duty. Let workers eat the wage, not the PR crumbs.

Keep or toss

Toss the token £1. Keep the real fight for a living wage and honest books.

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Sources

• UK Minimum Wage rise guidance: https://www.bishopfleming.co.uk/insights/national-minimum-wage-set-increase-april-2025
• Forecast LPC rate 2026: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/national-living-wage-increase-2026-lpc-b2803468.html
• Earnings data: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/articles/lowandhighpayuk/latest
• Hospitality sector cost impacts: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/feb/24/tax-changes-force-staff-say-uk-hospitality-companies