Coffee shop chain Pret A Manger has said it will hand staff a second pay rise this year to help with the increased cost of living .
Pret, which employs nearly 9,000 people in the UK, said all employees in shops and its support centre will get a 5% increase from December.
The high street business said the pay rise will cost it £10million.
It is the second round of pay increases by the hospitality business after it dished out £9.2million of rises in April.
Pret said the move means 8,600 shop staff such as baristas will see a baseline pay increase of around 13% over the year.
Team members will see their pay increase from between £9.80 and £11.00 per hour to between £10.30 and £11.55 per hour depending on location as part of the latest hike, the company said.
Specialist barista pay will increase from between £10.30 and £11.90 per hour to between £10.85 and £12.50, depending on location and experience.
Guy Meakin, interim managing director at Pret A Manger UK & Ireland, said: “With the rising cost of living putting increased pressure on our people, we wanted to do more to support them, and to say thank you for continuing to go above and beyond for our customers.
"This will be the second year in a row we will have introduced a second pay rise in the same year for our employees, and we’re proud to be leading the industry on barista pay."
Last year The Mirror reported that Pret A Manger planned to open 200 new stores and rehire the 3,000 workers that were made redundant at the height of the pandemic.
The company today said it plans to double the size of its business by 2026 with a £100million investment that will increase openings out of London, in transport hubs and motorway service stations.
Aldi, Tesco and Sainsbury’s have boosted their basic hourly rate to £10.50, £10.30 and £10.25 respectively.
Asda workers take home £10.10 an hour – leaving them over £3 worse off than Aldi employees over an eight-hour shift.
Other stores have offered extra perks. Sainsbury’s is giving staff free food during shifts until the end of the year, while Tesco has doubled its staff discount.
According to a GMB survey of 3,200 Asda workers, 90% worry they won’t be able to heat their homes.
GMB officer Nadine Houghton said: “While other companies are trying to protect hard-working employees from the cost of living crisis, Asda seems happy to sit back while its workers struggle.
Asda said: “We’re listening to our colleagues and taking action to support them wherever we are able.
“This year we have invested in two pay increases for our hourly-paid store colleagues and were able to pay a bonus worth an average of £413 to full-time, hourly paid colleagues.”
