Marks & Spencer is making a record investment in shopfloor pay for the third consecutive year.
Marks & Spencer is pumping £95m into higher pay from April, bringing its standard rate to at least £12.60 per hour “in line with the real living wage”.
M&S said that since 2022 it has invested more than £285m in retail pay, increasing its standard hourly rate by more than 26% – double the rate of inflation over the same period.
The pay rise came as retailers battle to adapt to the increased costs of employing people following last year’s Budget, which brought sweeping changes in areas such as national insurance.
The pay of M&S customer assistants – around 50,000 people – will increase from £12, representing a 5% increase on last year.
For full-timers outside of London, it amounts to an increase of approximately £98 a month. Customer assistants in London will get £13.85, a 5.3% increase.
Team support managers’ hourly rate will rise from £13.05 to £13.65, and from £14.20 to £14.90 in London.
M&S chief executive Stuart 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.”
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