M&S is the latest retailer to boost colleague pay, as it has invested £57 million in increasing the hourly pay of its in-store colleagues, boosting their rate of pay by 70p to £10.90 per hour.
The new wage will come into effect from 1 April 2023 and will apply to all 40,000 customer assistants across the UK, as part of M&S’ “biggest ever investment” in front-line colleague reward.
The rate of pay for in-store staff in London will also increase to £12.05, up from £11.25, meaning that all M&S colleagues will be paid more than the National Living Wage and in line with, or more, than the Real Living Wage.
Today’s announcement follows a £46.5 million investment in store colleague pay during the 22/23 financial year. Two separate pay rises during that time mean that a full-time M&S customer assistant now earns nearly £150 a month than at this time last year.
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This continued investment in pay means that M&S’ hourly rate of pay has risen by 20% over last two years, ahead of the rate of inflation over the period.
“Whether you’re running a home or a business, everyone is trying to balance the reality of rising costs. Of course, we all hope inflation subsides, and there are some positive signs that it is doing so, but we need to help colleagues in the here and now,” said CEO Stuart Machin.
“That’s why we are investing so significantly in our hourly rates of pay and why we are supporting colleagues with a continued commitment to our wide-ranging package of industry leading benefits”.
M&S is also extending its package of financial and wellbeing colleague benefits to include discounts, pension contributions, share schemes, a virtual GP service, free eye tests and a range of other health and wellbeing perks.
