M&S to give 40,000 staff a pay rise to help with cost of living crisis

Marks & Spencers is to increase its minimum wage by more than 5% to £10 an hour from April 1st to help its staff with the cost of living increase.

The rise will see more than 40,000 members of staff receive more than the legal minimum wage, which is increasing to £9.50 per hour for workers over the age of twenty-three in April.

M&S will also be offering free health checks for all staff members, which will include benefits such as an online GP service and health check screening. 

A financial management advice service will also be included.

M&S / Facebook

Steve Rowe, the chief executive of M&S, said on the pay increase: “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.”

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This follows similar moves by other retailers, such as Sainsbury’s who increased its own minimum wage to £10 an hour back in January.

And more recently, Aldi increased its minimum hourly rates for shop workers to £10.57 an hour from £9.55 nationally this month. 

M&S / Facebook

This comes as the UK braces itself for an impending cost of living crisis; inflation soared to 5.4% – the highest rate since 1992 – in December, and the price cap for energy bills is expected to rise by an estimated 46-56% in April.

Experts have warned that the cost of living will only get higher in the coming months in what has been dubbed a ‘national crisis’, and have urged the government to act ‘immediately’. 

Rishi Sunak announced at the start of the month that millions of Britons will get a £150 discount on their council tax bill in April and a further rebate of £200 in October off their energy bills.

The overall £350 payment will then have to be repaid in £40 instalments over a period of five years, starting from next April.