Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 14 May 2025 to Question 50224, on Pay: Publicity, what the total cost is for Millions get a pay rise campaign; whether it was approved under communications spending controls; and what the cost was for the beer mats.

The 2025 National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage campaign is running until 31 May 2025 and is budgeted to cost up to £650,000. This was approved under Cabinet Office’s advertising, marketing and communications spending controls. The cost to advertise in pubs using beer mats was £35,580, which was approved at Official level.

The 2024 campaign saw an increase in reach to eligible workers. However, recognition remained low, reinforcing the need for bolder, more engaging formats for the 2025 campaign, which expected to deliver an estimated 3.2 million impressions.

It offered a unique opportunity to engage audiences in a social, high-dwell environment where financial conversations naturally occur. This setting encourages discussion and word-of-mouth sharing about rate changes and offers an effective nudge for audiences to "check their pay."