Voluntary London Living Wage bumped up to 9.75 pounds per hour

London - Over 1,000 London businesses have pledged to pay their employees the increased voluntary London Living Wage of 9.75 pounds an hour, announced by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan on Monday.

The amount, which is a 35 pence, or 3.7 percent increase, from the previous living wage of 9.40 pounds per hour, is said to be minimum amount needed to cover the basic costs of living in the capital.

Over 309 new employers are said to have signed on to pay their employees the new hourly rate, including business such as Ikea, Lloyds TBS and Alchemy Café. The new pledges bring the total number of accredited businesses in London paying the Living Wage to 1,033 and sees the capital account for over one third of the businesses paying the Living Wage in the UK.

However, in spite of the number of business who have pledged to pay the new Living Wage, the only two main fashion brands who have public made a commitment to pay their staff the voluntary rate are Burberry and Oliver Bonas.

"It’s great news that London is leading the way in paying the Living Wage and that over 1,000 businesses are now accredited and helping to make this a fairer and more equal city," said the Mayor of London at the British Library. "I’m glad to say we’re well on track to see it rise to over 10 pounds an hour during my mayoralty, but we need to go further and for many more businesses and ​​ organisations to sign up."

"Our economy continues to grow and for the first time in London’s history we now have over one million businesses based here. It’s essential that hard-working Londoners, who keep this city going, are rewarded for their integral role in this success," he continued. "Paying the London Living Wage is not just the right and moral thing to do, it makes good business sense too. T he benefits are clear - including increased productivity and reduced staff turnover."

As of 31 October the voluntary rate of pay based on the cost of living increased to 9.75 pounds in London and 8.45 pounds for the rest of the UK. Since 2011 the London Living Wage has increased by 17.5 per cent and more than 60,000 workers in the capital have benefited from the increase.