A TEN-YEAR-OLD company is proving that paying the living wage can be a successful long-term business strategy.

Social enterprise You Can Cook has paid the living wage since it was set up in 2007 – years before the concept was officially introduced.

“We were giving it before it was even invented,” said You Can Cook founder Bosco Santimano. “I believe everyone should be paying the living wage. Employers should be less greedy and give workers a lot more but I can only do what I can and hope others follow my example.

“We are celebrating 10 years this October so we are a good example – we are showing that it is possible. People can’t survive on the minimum wage ”, added Santimano.

“I went through that years ago and found it hard to make ends meet. I was living hand to mouth. I think companies make massive profits at the expense of workers who are their main assets. They are not being respected and being taken care of.

“When I set up this company I wanted to do away with everything I experienced as a worker which is why my staff don’t want to leave me. That means I don’t have to spend money training or advertising for new staff as the ones I have don’t want to leave.”

Based in Peebles in the Borders, the 10 staff at You Can Cook and its spin-off You Can Grow organise cookery classes, demonstrations and workshops on nutrition and food-related issues all over Scotland.

“We go all round Scotland teaching people how to cook from scratch as we believe that if you cook from raw ingredients you can evolve into a master chef,” said Santimano. “We target specific health conditions such as allergies and intolerances as well. We teach people how to cook on a budget and how to eat healthily on very little income.”

The company and its staff were thrilled to learn they were the first social enterprise to be accredited in the Borders. But the icing on the cake was when Santimano was told by the Living Wage Foundation that they were also the first cookery training provider in food and health in Scotland to be accredited.

“A double whammy so to speak,” said Santimano. “Living Wage Scotland also commended us for having a high percentage of staff that were women, something they find less of in many other organisations,” said Santimano.

Santimano knows that staff in the catering industry are generally badly paid and is pleased to buck that trend. “I worked in the catering and hotel industry but was appalled to see the levels of pay for that industry. It has the highest turnover rate of people simply because they don’t pay enough, which I think is crazy.

“I ran a private personal chef business for nine years called Aromatic Cuisine and worked in the civil service, NHS, and the voluntary sector. I started You Can Cook because I wanted to bring together the best elements of these sectors into the one organisation.

“We are based in a rural area which makes it more difficult to keep costs down but I thought I would rather take a pay cut and take a dent in profits to makes sure I live up to what I believe in. I am happy to say I am doing well although I don’t have an account in the Cayman Islands.

“Some of my clients ask how I do it but the best thing I have is my staff. I am happy and I sleep well knowing I am not undermining someone else just to have a luxurious life.”

Since it was launched in April 2014, more than 600 organisations in Scotland have signed up to the scheme to become accredited as official living wage employers, giving their workers at least £8.45 per hour.