Amusement industry's stance on the national minimum wage

A treatise on the UK amusement industry’s stance on the national minimum wage appeared in the letters column of the Sunday Telegraph this week, penned by Southend-on-Sea’s Philip Miller.

The Sunday Telegraph's letters column this week featured an engaging treatise on the UK amusement industry's stance on the national minimum wage, penned by Southend-on-Sea's Philip Miller.

Miller, chairman of the Stockvale Group, which employs 1,200 people during the summer on attractions such as Adventure Island and Sea Life Adventure, was prompted to write in, weaving together concerns over the national minimum wage.

He began by noting the phrase's suggestiveness, hinting that employers are choosing to pay the bare minimum, while in fact the rate is set by the government and enforced by law. This misconception unfairly undermines businesses like his own, which strive to offer good jobs, career pathways and a positive working environment.

For employees, Miller argued, the term 'minimum' often feels demeaning, implying low value, even when hourly rates now rival many graduate starting salaries. At a time when they need to engage and motivate younger workers in particular, such language risks fostering resentment and discouragement.

The minimum wage, he contended, also distorts pay structures, shrinking the gap between front-line roles and management, making promotion and responsibility less attractive. Sharp rises in the minimum wage, while politically popular, bring unintended consequences. Most businesses cannot absorb these costs without reducing working hours or cutting jobs altogether.

As a result, we see employees taking home less overall pay - and increasingly needing second or even third jobs to compensate. For young people, the entry level jobs that once offered a vital first step into work are becoming harder to find and to keep, threatening the creation of a 'lost generation.'

A simple change of terminology could help. Rebranding the national minimum wage as the government set wage would more accurately reflect its source and remove the damaging connotations. This shift would cost nothing yet it could foster a fairer and more constructive national conversation about pay, employment and the role of business in society.