Britain's Morrisons sets minimum wage of £10 an hour for shop staff

New deal for workers means since 2015, Morrisons' pay has increased by more than 46%

A Morrisons store is pictured in St Albans, Britain. Reuters

Morrisons on Wednesday said it would become the first British supermarket group to pay all of its shop staff at least £10 ($13.62) an hour.

The company, based in Bradford, northern England, said a new pay deal starting in April will mean a 9 per cent wage increase for most of its 96,000 store workers.

Supermarket staff have played a major role in feeding the nation during the Covid-19 pandemic and have been designated "key workers" by government.

Morrisons chief executive David Potts said the £10 rate was a "symbolic and important milestone".

“Over the past year we have seen renewed and widespread appreciation in the UK for our colleagues who have had an incredibly tough 2020, working tirelessly so Britain could eat well and shop safely throughout the pandemic," Mr Potts said.

The deal, which rolls the annual budget for a discretionary bonus scheme into the hourly rate, is subject to a ballot opening on January 27.

The deal is backed by the leadership of the Usdaw trade union.

Morrisons, Britain's fourth largest grocer after market leader Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda, said its minimum hourly pay currently stands at £9.20 an hour.

It said the new deal means that since 2015, the company's pay has increased by more than 46 per cent.

The group will also pay a London weighting.

British supermarkets' sales have soared during the pandemic as the hospitality sector has been largely closed, but the crisis has brought hundreds of millions of pounds of additional costs.

Last week Morrisons, which trades from 498 UK stores, reported strong sales over the Christmas period.