M&S ups minimum wage, adds worker benefits

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Feb 17, 2022

M&S is set to increase the minimum pay of its retail staff to £10 an hour. The rise comes as the return-to-form retailer aims to counter labour shortages in its sector as competition for workers intensifies.

The more-than-5% pay rise will also come with the other benefits including access to an online GP service, health check screening and advice on financial management.

It confirmed Thursday that from the beginning of April more than 40,000 staff in the UK would see their base rate of pay increase by 50p an hour to £10, with rates in London rising to £11.25 from £10.75.

The rise puts M&S workers just ahead of the new legal minimum wage of £9.50 an hour for those aged 23 and over that comes into effect in April. It also puts M&S on a par with supermarket competitors Sainsbury’s and Morrisons.

M&S is enjoying a steady rise in its fortunes after a long struggle to compete with both online and physical retailers, especially with its clothing and home offer.

Chief executive Steve Rowe said: “The contribution our teams have made to support our customers and each other every day through some really challenging times has been remarkable. By once again increasing our investment into one of the best all-round reward offers for store colleagues across retail, we’re making sure that every colleague, whatever they do and wherever they work, is properly rewarded and supported at M&S.”

Fashion and homewares rival Next has said it will have to put up the price of its clothing by as much as 6% this autumn as the retailer expects average wages to rise more than 5% this year.