Marks & Spencer shop workers are to be given a pay rise from April as the retailer said it has invested almost £60 million ($72 million) in staff wages.
More than 40,000 customer assistant staff will see their hourly pay increase from £10.20 to £10.90 from April 1, M&S revealed.
The staff will be paid more than the national living wage, which has been set at £10.42 an hour for those over 23 from April.
Employees in London branches will see their hourly wage rise from £11.25 to £12.05.
The move will cost the upmarket retailer £57 million and mark its biggest investment in frontline workers’ rewards.
About 62 per cent 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 than at the same time last year, M&S said.
It also means that the hourly rate of pay has risen by more than 20 per cent in a little more than two years, which the group stressed was inflation-beating, with the UK’s consumer prices index (CPI) reaching a peak of 11.1 per cent late last year.
“Whether you’re running a home or a business, everyone is trying to balance the reality of rising costs," said Stuart Machin, chief executive at M&S.
“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.”
