AN AWARD-WINNING Penarth pub has become the first in the town to introduce the national living wage – regardless of age.

The Golden Lion, at Glebe Street, brought in the measure earlier this month ahead of it being made compulsory across the UK in April.

The national living wage will ensure workers aged 25 and over will receive £7.20 an hour, with the figure rising to £9 by 2020.

According to the UK Treasury, the change will mean 2.7 million low wage workers will receive a pay rise.

The current national minimum wage is £6.70 and applies to everyone aged 21 and over.

Workers at the Golden Lion, including those under 25, are now earning £7.20 an hour and 45 per cent of the workforce are actually earning more than this.

The pub’s owner Jon Bassett said that full-time workers at the pub could now earn up to £18,000 a year as a result of the measure.

He said: “A lot of the big companies are wondering how they are going to do it. There’s a lot of these invisible people in the background.

“I thought if we can do it and afford it, let’s do it.

“I think the times are gone when they’re disinterested people. As employers, we have to make sure that staff are doing their jobs.

“We’ve got to get them all to be leaders and that works for them as well. Trying to encourage all staff in all the pubs to lead shifts and to promote them if the opportunity arises.”

The Golden Lion was voted Pub of the Year for the Vale of Glamorgan by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) earlier this year.