Marks & Spencer has become the latest retailer to significantly raise the hourly rate for its store staff.
Despite new cost pressures from impending tax rises, the company is making a £95m investment in its pay offer, the biggest it has ever made and the third consecutive increase since Stuart Machin became CEO in 2022.
From 1 April, the rate of pay for its Customer Assistants in the UK (approximately 50,000 people) working outside of London will increase from £12 to £12.60 per hour, representing a 5% increase on last year and a 26% increase since 2022, which is double the rate of inflation over the same period (13.5%). For Customer Assistants working in London, the hourly rate will increase from £13.15 to £13.85, representing a 5.3% increase on last year.
Meanwhile, Team Support Managers will see their hourly rate increase from £13.05 to £13.65, while for those in London, it will increase from £14.20 to £14.90.
Last year, M&S invested £89m in its UK retail pay and a further £5m annual investment to enhance its maternity, paternity, and adoption policies. The 2025 investment means that since 2022, M&S has invested more than £285m in its retail pay package.
Machin said: “Following the Government’s recent increases in tax and national insurance contributions, it’s no secret that M&S and indeed 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 colleagues, 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 £300m in our pay over the past three years, well above the rate of inflation, in addition to our market leading discount and pension offer for colleagues.”
Last month, Aldi raised its pay rate again. The move came days after Lidl said it would offer its UK store staff a better rate that would have meant Aldi was no longer Britain’s best-paying supermarket.
