Xercise4Less has announced plans to pay all staff above and beyond the new National Living Wage, which comes into effect this week.

Friday (1 April) marks the introduction of chancellor George Osborne’s new National Living Wage will see the starting hourly rate for over-25s jump to £7.20 (up from the current minimum wage of £6.70), gradually rising to £9 an hour by 2020.

Concerns have been expressed in the leisure sector that the move will encourage employers to pass over older candidates as they will become more expensive than under-25s – who are entitled to between £3.87 and £6.70 per hour, depending on their age.

However, Xercise4Less has sought to kick the notion into touch by announcing that will pay all employees across its 35 gyms – both under and over-25 – a new minimum wage of £7.70. Coming into effect on Friday, the new Xercise4Less wage marks a 50p increase on the National Living Wage for over-25s and is nearly £4 higher than the minimum wage for 16-year-olds.

“Here at Xercise4Less, we believe that pay should be awarded fairly and equally to all,” said Xercise4Less HR manager Carl Atkinson.

“It is our view that market competitive rates enhance our ability to attract, engage and retain the type of colleague that will facilitate our ability to grow and sustain productivity in order to deliver a good member experience”.

The move comes just weeks after Nuffield Health pledged that it would pay all of its staff the new National Living Wage, not just over 25s as the law requires.