Is this week's introduction of a minimum wage increase a good or a bad thing for the hospitality industry?
We have a moral obligation to pay as much as we can on the lower salary side. I don't think it sends out the right messages if you pay just the minimum wage.
Marianne Larsen, director of human resources at the Mandarin Oriental hotel, London
It's good to set a benchmark, to stop young people and single mothers getting ripped off. But this increase will be irrelevant to all but the lower end of the industry, as employers with a good reputation will already pay more. Anyone who wants to pay the minimum wage is just looking at their bank account, not at employees as people.
Michael Bedford, chef-patron, The Trouble House, Tetbury, Gloucestershire
Yes, but it's not high enough. For anyone living in London it's far too low. The hospitality industry can't afford not to pay good wages. It relies on staff providing a good service and being rewarded.
Dave Turnbull, regional industrial organiser for the T&G Union
Yes. We want to encourage people to join this industry for positive reasons and we don't want to be seen as a low-pay option. We want to pay wages that are attractive to the brightest and the best. We want to be seen as an industry offering good jobs and good careers, not at the bottom end of the market offering an hourly minimum wage.
Bob Cotton, Chief executive of the British Hospitality Association