M&S‘s success on the high street is resulting in another retail staff pay rise.  The UK retail giant has announced a £95 million investment in its retail pay offer, the biggest investment ever, and third consecutive increase since Stuart Machin became CEO in 2022. And M&S noted that the rise comes “despite new cost pressures from the government”.

From 1 April, the rate of pay for UK Customer Assistants (around 50,000 staff) will increase from £12 to £12.60 an hour, a 5% increase on last year and a 26% increase since 2022. M&S also noted the rise is double the rate of inflation over the same period (13.5%).

For a full-time worker outside of London, the increase is around £98 a month compared to today’s current rate. For Customer Assistants working in London, the hourly rate will increase from £13.15 to £13.85, a 5.3% increase on last year.

For UK Team Support Managers, the hourly rate will increase from £13.05 to £13.65, while for those in London, it will increase from £14.20 to £14.90.

Last year, M&S noted it invested £89m in its UK retail pay and a further £5 million annual investment to enhance its maternity, paternity, and adoption policies.

“The 2025 investment means that since 2022, M&S has invested more than £285 million in its retail pay package. It also means that every UK store colleague will continue to be paid the Real Living Wage as their base pay, with M&S’s wide range of benefits – such as its industry-leading 20% colleague discount, which when combined could be worth up to £15.40 per hour”, said M&S. 

Machin added: “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 £300 million 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.”