Britain's M&S Raises Staff Pay For Second Time In 2022

By Donna Ahern
Britain's M&S Raises Staff Pay For Second Time In 2022

Marks & Spencer on Wednesday became the latest British retailer to again raise pay for store workers amid a cost-of-living crisis and a tight labour market.

With Britain's jobless rate at its lowest since 1974 the Bank of England is watching pay settlements closely as it mulls further rises in interest rates. 

M&S said that from 1 October more than 40,000 workers will see their hourly pay increase to a minimum of £10.20.

The additional autumn pay review, a first for M&S, follows an initial pay increase in April to £10 an hour from £9.50.

Combined, this represents an annual raise of 7.4%.

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However, UK inflation was 9.9% in August.

New Support Package 

The clothing and food retailer said its new package to support workers would cost it £15 million.

It includes a one-off £250 M&S voucher for 4,500 salaried colleagues at pre-management levels in stores and support centres.

Other staff benefits include free food and sanitary products.

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Other Retailers 

Last week Sainsbury's, Britain's second largest grocer, raised staff pay for the first time outside of its annual pay review, John Lewis Partnership said it would pay a one-off cost of living support payment of £500 for full-time employees. 

Retailers, including market leader Tesco, are also stepping up perks for workers. 

Shares in M&S were down 0.4% at 1016 GMT, extending 2022 losses to 51.8%.

Read More: Britain's M&S Announces New Partnership With Benefit Cosmetics

News by Reuters, edited by Donna Ahern, Checkout. For more retail stories, click here. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.

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