Poundstretcher giving staff a 10% rise as a ‘thank you’

Poundstretcher staff who have been at the business for more than a year are to get a 10% pay rise from 1 January, the business has said.

However, Poundstretcher has not specified its basic pay rate and it is not clear how much of the rise is accounted for by matching an increase in statutory minimum wages from April.

The National Minimum Wage for 21 and 22-year-olds is set to rise 9.8%, from £8.36 an hour to £9.18. The national living wage, which is the statutory minimum for workers aged 23 and over, is rising 6.6%, from £8.91 to £9.50. Minimum rates for 16 to 20-year-olds are also rising, by 4.1%.

A number of job review sites contain reports of Poundstretcher paying the minimum wage. According to Glassdoor.co.uk, the phrase “high expectations for minimum wage” is in 18 Poundstretcher job reviews, including one left in October 2021 by a former employee of more than a year.

Indeed.com and Breakroom.cc contains similar minimum wage claims in job reviews. “Pay isn’t great, only minimum wage,” said a review from a Poundstretcher retail assistant on Indeed in July.

Poundstretcher did not respond to The Grocer’s enquiries.

The variety discounter told a number of media outlets the rise was a thank you to staff for helping the business through the pandemic and a tough trading period, including a company restructure in a CVA launched last year.

“We are proud and inspired by the way our company has risen to every challenge, from our CVA to the pandemic, with resilience, courage and a caring attitude,” said Poundstretcher co-owner and CEO Aziz Tayub.

“We really value the excellent contribution that all of our employees have made over the last year to maintain business continuity and ensure we are in a position to achieve further growth, and as such have decided to reward our staff to show our deep appreciation for their ongoing hard work.”

Tayub also said the company’s turnaround saw pre-tax losses of £49.5m in the year to March 31 2020 turn into pre-tax profits of £30m the following year.

In September this year, Poundstretcher subsidiary Bargain Buys bought stricken chain JTF Mega Discount Warehouse from administrators, following the closure of JTF’s 12 stores this summer.