Stockvale Group MD Philip Miller has written to the Daily Telegraph to contest the continued use of the phrase “national minimum wage,” stating that the words imply miserliness on the part of employers, and risk alienating young people from entry-level positions.

The MD of Adventure Island and Sealife Adventure operator Stockvale Group has written to the Daily Telegraph to suggest MPs rename the national minimum wage, claiming the designation is having an adverse impact on staff recruitment.

In the letter published 11 May, Philip Miller suggested the rate could be rechristened as the Government Set Wage, thereby removing any connotations that businesses are actively looking to pay employees as poorly as the law will allow.

“The phrase has become increasingly unhelpful,” wrote Miller. “It suggests that employers are choosing to pay the bare minimum, when in fact the rate is set by the government and enforced by law. This misconception unfairly undermines businesses like ours that work hard to offer good jobs, career pathways and a positive working environment.”

“For employees, the term ‘minimum’ often feels demeaning. It implies low value, even when hourly rates now rival many graduate starting salaries. At a time when we need to engage and motivate younger workers in particular, such language risks fostering resentment and discouragement.”

Suggesting “government set wage” as an alternative, Miller said the reclassification “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.”

But it’s not just the terminology of the wage that concerns the amusements sector veteran, it’s also the level of increasing NIC and NMW costs that are impacting businesses around the coastal and inland sectors.

Commenting on the wider implications of recent tax and wage hikes, Miller added: “Many 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.”