FWIW I was working at Kent Salads when the minimum wage came in (Apr 99).
I had gone back to Uni as a mature student of 48 and certainly did not find working in the cold on a production line 'beneath me'!
The only problem I had was explaining to my fellow workers that the increase in their pay packet was not due to the benevolence of our employer but because the bastards weren't allowed to pay us so little anymore!
'If no one went no faster than what I do there'd be a sight less trouble in this world'