HERE’S a lovely example to set against the greed of fat-cat bankers and overpaid company bosses with their massive performance bonuses.

Senior staff at York mental health charity The Retreat have agreed to forego a pay rise – so less well-paid colleagues can earn a little more.

The wage freeze applies to the dozen-or-so staff – mainly senior managers and doctors who earn more than £47,500 a year.

It means lower-paid staff can get pay rises of between 1.3 and 3.71 per cent.

The move is part of the charity’s commitment to being a “living wage” employer – one that pays at least £7.45 an hour to all staff.

“We want to reward our staff fairly for the hard work they put in every day of the year,” said The Retreat’s chief executive, Jenny McAleese.

It is an approach which sits well with the charity’s Quaker background. And by going down this route, The Retreat has set an example that, in today’s divided Britain, many other companies and organisations might do well to follow.

Imagine the boost to morale of working for an organisation where the bosses voluntarily gave up a pay rise so others could get more in their pay packets.

The benefits in terms of productivity and goodwill from staff could be priceless.