Retailer Marks and Spencer is to increase pay for its employees from 1 April.
From this date, pay for its 50,000 UK customer assistants will increase from £12 to £12.60 per hour. This represents a 5% increase from last year and a 26% rise since 2022. For a full-time employee outside of London, this equates to an increase of around £98 per month.
For customer assistants in London, the hourly rate will increase from £13.15 to £13.85, a 5.3% rise from last year. For UK team support managers, the hourly rate will increase from £13.05 to £13.65, while for those in London, it will rise from £14.20 to £14.90.
This equates to a £95 million investment in UK retail pay and is the organisation’s third consecutive increase since 2022.
Stuart Machin, chief executive at Marks and Spencer, said: “Following the government’s recent increases in tax and national insurance contributions, it’s no secret that Marks and Spencer and the entire retail sector has some significant cost headwinds to face into in the new financial year.
“However, I have always believed that we should not allow these headwinds to impact our hourly paid employees, which is why today, for the third year in a row, we are making a record investment in our retail pay offer. This means we have now invested almost £300 million in our pay over the past three years, well above the rate of inflation, in addition to our discount and pension offer for employees.”
Marks and Spencer’s benefits package also includes an uncapped 20% employee discount as well as selected branded products, an up to 12% pension contribution, a sharesave scheme, a 24/7 virtual GP service and employee assistance programme for employees and their families, free eye tests, and six free physiotherapy sessions.
It also offers 26 weeks of maternity and adoption leave at full pay and six weeks paternity leave at full pay, fully paid neonatal leave for up to 12 weeks, life cover of up to four-times salary, Check4Cancer support and risk assessments, with free screening for employees at higher risk, and support for employees experiencing menopause, as well as uniform and specialist line manager training.
