Lidl Gives Workers Pay Rise And Becomes The Highest Paying Supermarket In Britain

Lidl is set to become the UK's highest-paying supermarket after announcing pay rises from March next year.

The popular supermarket chain said it will increase its minimum pay for employees to £10.10 an hour for anyone working outside of London, with higher rates applying in the capital.

More experienced workers will also see rates rise to up to £11.40.

Lidl said the company-wide pay rise was intended to recognise the 'hard work and dedication of frontline colleagues during the last 18 months of the pandemic'.

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It said in a statement: "Entry-level wages will increase from £9.50 to £10.10 an hour outside of London and £10.85 to £11.30 within the M25 from March 2022, with colleagues earning up to £11.40 and £12.25 respectively, depending on length of service."

Christian Hartnagel, Lidl GB chief executive, added: "We have ambitious plans to grow our business across Great Britain, and to do that we need to ensure we attract and look after the best talent at every level of our business."

The news follows the release of official figures yesterday (Tuesday 16 November), which indicated employers are continuing to struggle to fill roles - especially within the hospitality and retail industries.

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According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), there were 1.17 million job openings in October, which is almost 400,000 higher than before the pandemic.

The figures also revealed that the number of redundancies rose in the three months to September, unemployment fell to 4.3 percent - not far off pre-pandemic levels, and there were 160,000 more workers on payrolls in October than September.

Speaking to the BBC, Sam Beckett, head of economic statistics at the ONS, said: "It might take a few months to see the full impact of furlough coming to an end, as people who lost their jobs at the end of September could still be receiving redundancy pay.

"However, October's early estimate shows the number of people on the payroll rose strongly on the month and stands well above its pre-pandemic level.

"There is also no sign of an upturn in redundancies and businesses tell us that only a very small proportion of their previously furloughed staff have been laid off."

Topics: UK News, News, lidl, supermarket

Jess Hardiman

Jess is a journalist at LADbible who graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics - indecisiveness at its finest, right there. She also works for FOODbible and its sister page Seitanists, which are both a safe haven for her to channel a love for homemade pasta, fennel and everything else in between. You can contact Jess at [email protected].

@Jess_Hardiman