Staff at high street bank get £1,000 pay rise to help…

Staff at high street bank get £1,000 pay rise to help with cost of living crisis

Staff at The Co-operative Bank are to receive a £1,000 pay rise to help with the cost of living crisis.

The Manchester-headquartered bank has confirmed plans to increase the annual salaries of 95% of its employees from September.

It added that the rise will be available to those members of staff not already on the highest wages.

The move comes after the bank announced a pre-tax profit of £61.9m for the six months to the end of June this year, up from the £21.4m it posted for the same period in 2021.

Its total income also increased from £149.4m to £208.2m.

Chief executive Nick Slape said: "We have made significant progress in the delivery of our strategy in the first half of 2022.

The Co-operative Bank has reported its latest financial results (PA)

"The statutory profit before tax of £61.9m and underlying profit before tax of £63.6m reflect sustained quarter-on-quarter growth.

"These results are better than anticipated at the start of the year and therefore, looking ahead, we have upgraded our outlook for 2022 whilst increasing the investment to be made available for customer service and simplification initiatives.

"Our low-risk balance sheet, along with the recent successful capital issuance, support our customer-focussed goals to grow the bank from an efficient and resilient foundation.

"While the economic outlook remains uncertain as we wait to see the full impact of higher inflation and cost of living pressures, we remain committed to helping customers and colleagues during these challenging times and services are available to anyone requiring support.

"We made the decision in the first quarter to make a one-off payment to lower-paid colleagues, and we have also committed that from September we will increase the annual salaries we pay to colleagues by £1,000 (full time equivalent).

"This change in base pay will apply to approximately 95% of colleagues across the bank, excluding those already on the highest salaries.

"Earlier this year we launched our sixth customer-led ethical policy which has confirmed the alignment between our strategy and what our customers expect of The Co-operative Bank.

"I was delighted that we were again recognised as the number one high street bank for ESG in the UK by Sustainalytics and I would like to take the opportunity to thank all our customers and colleagues for continuing to support us to deliver the important goals we share."

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