Iceland has splashed the cash on a £14.6m pay rise bonanza for its staff, boosting salaries across the company by as much as 45%.

On average, staff will receive a pay rise of 6.3%. Staff under the age of 18 will see the lower rate of pay abolished and staff within the M25 will receive a new premium rate of pay.

“Since my colleagues and I returned to Iceland in 2005 we have made great strides in improving staff morale and working conditions and significantly increasing pay rates,” said Iceland chief executive Malcolm Walker.

“Iceland has achieved excellent results over the last six years and key to this has been the outstanding performance of our staff. We are very happy for them to share in our continuing success.”