High street giant Marks and Spencer (M&S) has announced it will be making a major change across all of its stores and Food Halls from April. Following a major investment, the retailer says all stores will be affected, and shoppers will agree it's a positive decision.
More than 40,000 store workers across Marks & Spencer are set to see a pay rise from April as the supermarket said it has invested almost £60 million in staff wages. Customer assistant staff will see their hourly pay increase to £10.90 from £10.20 from April 1, M&S revealed.
This will take it ahead of the national living wage which has been set at £10.42 an hour for those over the age of 23 from April this year. Employees in London stores will see their hourly wages upped to £12.05 from £11.25.
READ MORE: B&M is closing some stores from March - full list of shops affected
The move will cost the upmarket retailer £57 million and mark its biggest ever investment into its front-line workers’ rewards. It will see about 62% of its 65,000 employees benefit from the salary boost.
The move follows two separate pay rises over the past year and means that a full-time customer assistant will earn nearly £150 a month more, compared to the same time last year, M&S said. It also means that the hourly rate of pay has risen by more than 20% in just over two years, which the group stressed is inflation-beating, with the UK’s consumer prices index (CPI) reaching a peak of 11.1% late last year.
Stuart Machin, chief executive at M&S, said: “Whether you’re running a home or a business, everyone is trying to balance the reality of rising costs. Of course, we all hope inflation subsides, and there are some positive signs that it is doing so, but we need to help colleagues in the here-and-now.
“That’s why we are investing so significantly in our hourly rates of pay and why we are supporting colleagues with a continued commitment to our wide-ranging package of industry leading benefits.”
The news from M&S comes after Tesco also announced a pay rise for staff. The hourly wage of a store worker is going up from £10.30 to £11.02 from April 2, says PA.
Tesco will also increase its “additional skills payment” for shift leaders to £2.26, taking their hourly wage to £13.28. Asda has also confirmed it will increase staff pay by 10% for 115,000 workers in spring.
The pay rise will see the hourly rate at the supermarket rise from £10.10 an hour to £11 in April, then to £11.11 an hour in July. The rates for workers inside the M25 will increase from £11.27 an hour to £12.17 in April, then to £12.28 an hour in July.
Sainsbury's currently pays workers £10.25 an hour, or £11.30 an hour if they're in a London store. Morrisons workers are paid a minimum of £10.20 an hour, or £11.05 inside the M25.
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