M&S becomes latest retailer to announce second hourly pay rise of the year

M&S has become the latest retailer to announce a second pay rise of the year, along with additional support to help frontline staff through the cost of living crisis.

Minimum pay for M&S store staff nationally is to rise from £10 an hour to £10.20 from 1 October. It follows a rise in April, from £9.50 an hour, and will mean over £100 more a month for full-time staff than they were paid in October last year.

M&S pays a higher rate in London, which is also rising, but it did not specify in its latest announcement what it will be.

Its new national rate still falls short of Aldi’s, the highest paying supermarket based on basic hourly minimums. The discounter has also given staff two pay rises this year, taking their hourly minimum to £11.95 an hour inside the M25 and £10.50 an hour elsewhere in the country.

With the cost of living crisis and wage inflation intensifying competition between retailers for labour, Sainsbury’s also recently announced its second rise of the year, taking the minimum rate for its staff to £11.30 an hour in London and £10.25 an hour elsewhere.

M&S also today said its 4,500 store workers at below management level would get a one-off £250 voucher to spend with the business, on top of an existing 20% staff discount.

It is part of a £15m support package that is also set to include a free meal per shift for workers at M&S’s DC in Castle Donington.

M&S store staff already get free everyday food items and refreshments, according to the retailer, and from this month workers at all sites can also get free sanitary products.

“Whether you’re running a home or running a business, everyone across the country is feeling the pressure of rising costs,” said M&S CEO Stuart Machin.

“We want to do what we can to help ease some of that strain; that’s why we have invested in price to deliver better value for our customers, and why we are investing in our colleague base pay for the second time this year.

“Our colleagues are our biggest asset, and we want to ensure they are fully supported and rewarded for the remarkable contribution they make to M&S.”

Sainsbury’s also recently announced staff would get free food during shifts, while Waitrose has said workers will get free meals in work hours from October to January, to help them through winter.