Primark is to increase the hourly wage of its retail assistants across the UK, meaning around 26,000 colleagues will receive an average pay rise of 12%.

Primark Burnley

Primark will increase pay for store colleagues across England, Scotland and Wales 

Store colleagues across England, Scotland and Wales will see their hourly pay rise to £11 an hour and London-based colleagues will see an increase to £11.51.

The rise will come into effect from April 1. Retail assistants will then be paid around 24% more than they were in 2021.

Primark is also scrapping age-related pay rates for under-23s by moving all retail assistants to one rate of pay.

The retailer’s investment in colleague pay follows the news of its plans to invest at least £140m in the UK high street over the next two years, including opening at least four new stores and creating 850 new jobs.

Primark UK retail director Kari Rodgers said: “Our people are vital to the success of Primark and the hard work and commitment of our teams helps to create the Primark our customers know and love. 

“We want all of our colleagues to continue to be competitively rewarded for their work and this pay increase reflects our commitment to continue to invest in our people and our stores as we continue to grow.”

Primark is the latest major retailer to offer pay rises for staff, joining CurrysAldi, Superdrug and Costa Coffee.

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