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Curzon Cinemas agree to pay London Living Wage

London’s Curzon Cinemas is the first UK cinema group to agree to pay its staff the London Living Wage, according to the Evening Standard.

Media union Bectu has been in talked with Curzon for over a year. The deal is the first of its kind to be confirmed, while other groups, including Picturehouse, owner of the Ritzy in Brixton, continue to struggle.

The agreement means staff at six London cinemas will get the Living Wage, currently £8.80 an hour, as of January. Currently, front-of-house staff earn around £7 per hour.

Curzon chief executive Philip Knatchbull said “This could not have occurred without the support of our shareholders who will subsidize the cost of doing this in the short term until the cost is self-financing through the better quality of work we think paying people properly will engender.”

Bectu general-secretary Gerry Morrissey said: “We can see no reason why other cinema chains cannot follow the Curzon lead.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .