Provista Connects to the Living Wage

AN INDEPENDENT Scottish IT firm has been awarded the Scottish Living Wage accreditation, ensuring its entire workforce earns fair pay.

Hamilton-based IT solutions company, Provista, has grown year on year since it was formed in 2006, with all staff in the team guaranteed to earn at least £8.45 an hour – well in excess on the government’s National Living Wage of £7.50.

The firm is also committing to ensuring suppliers, from cleaning agencies to contractors are paying the living wage to staff.

From headquarters in Hamilton and office locations in Aberdeen and Birmingham, Provista provides cloud solutions, professional services and support services to a range of organisations, including Balfour Beatty, Digby Brown and Glasgow Science Centre.

Co-Founders, Stuart Little and Barry Oliver remain at the helm and see the value of paying a living wage to morale and organic year on year growth.

Little said: “We believe in investing in our workforce and the need to be an ethical, responsible employer.

“We recognise the benefits it will bring in terms of ensuring our employees feel valued; recognition for our company and in the hope that it will encourage other employers to provide fair work opportunities for their staff.

“Both ethically and competitively we believe in paying fair wages regardless. Another benefit and the reason we wholeheartedly support the campaign, is that it makes you hold your own suppliers to account.

“For instance, we asked the agency that supplies our cleaners – and were delighted to find that they do pay in excess of the living wage.”

Early adopters of “The Scottish Business Pledge” the Living Wage accreditation fits well with Provista’s company culture – seeing it not as purely an increased cost.

The setting of the rate is overseen by the Living Wage Foundation and is based on the amount needed to fund an acceptable standard of living in the UK.

Little said: “We believe in investing in our workforce and the need to be an ethical, responsible employer.

“I also feel it is short sighted not to be paying a decent wage, employees that are paid fairly are much more likely to be invested in the business.

“Happier staff are less likely to move, with recruitment often becoming a significant cost – and this is before we even talk about the productivity and cultural benefits that more fulfilled employees bring.

“We encourage more businesses to sign up and hopefully this will have a knock-on effect throughout the business community, increasing pressure on firms insisting on simply paying the minimum wage.”

The Scottish Living Wage Campaign, set up in 2007 by the Poverty Alliance and STUC, joined other initiatives across the UK in demanding a living wage to help address low pay and in-work poverty.

Provista has some of the most experienced and highly skilled consultants and engineers in Scotland and continues to invest profits, creating high quality careers and training from within.

Last April, it reached a milestone, by being awarded Cisco Gold Partner status – currently the only to be awarded the certification, a major boost as it regularly competes to win business from major national and multinational corporations.