Retailer Marks and Spencer will give its retail employees a pay rise as of 1 April as part of a £57 million investment.
More than 40,000 customer assistants will see their hourly rate increase from £10.20 to £10.90, while London-based staff pay will also increase from £11.25 to £12.05. The change means all retail employees will be paid more than the national living wage and either in line with or more than the real living wage.
During the 2022/23 financial year, Marks and Spencer invested £46.5 million in store staff pay across two separate pay rises, including its first Autumn pay review. As a result, a full-time retail worker earns nearly £150 a month more compared with the same time last year.
Since the start of 2021, its hourly rate of pay has risen by more than 20%, which is ahead of the inflation rate over this period.
Stuart Machin, chief executive at Marks and Spencer, 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 workers in the here and now. That’s why we are investing so significantly in our hourly rates of pay and why we are supporting staff with a continued commitment to our wide-ranging package of benefits.”
Current benefits on offer to staff include an uncapped discount across all Marks and Spencer branded food, clothing and home products, a generous pension contribution, staff share schemes, access to a 24/7 virtual GP service and employee assistance programme for workers and their wider family, free eye tests at Marks and Spencer opticians, and free Check4Cancer support and risk assessments for the UK top five most common cancers, with free screenings for those at higher risk.
