THE Archbishop of York is a fine chap and his fellow Living Wage Commissioners no doubt mean well, but in the real commercial world things are not nearly as easy as they seem to think.

An hourly £1.14 increase to “living wage” levels might not seem much, but this represents an 18 per cent hike in wage costs – actually over 20 per cent when National Insurance and other factors are included.

Contrary to a common misconception not all bosses are “fat cats” and many business owners are struggling to survive. They are on a knife edge, with the wage bill as their biggest expenditure.

Increasing this by a fifth or more will not lift those employees out of poverty. It will send their firms into oblivion and put them in the dole queue.

Matthew Laverack, Business owner of this parish, Lord Mayor’s Walk, York.

(NB: all employees paid more than living wage.)