Lidl has announced a significant investment into employee wages starting next year, which it says will make it the highest-paying supermarket in the UK.
The budget giant has committed to putting £18 million into increasing salaries, which will see entry-level workers paid £10.10 an hour starting next March - a 60p increase from the current rate of £9.50.
Staff who have been working at Lidl for longer will see even higher wages, depending on how long they have been with the supermarket.
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The pay rises will affect 21,000 employees, or 80% of Lidl's total workforce, and for some workers will mean a salary increase of more than 6%.
As reported by Hull Live, the supermarket has consistently committed to increasing what it pays its workers in line with increasing costs of living.
The new rise follows an investment of more than £50 million by the chain into hourly wages over the last five years, and also serves to thank frontline staff in Lidl supermarkets for their work throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
Chief Executive Officer at Lidl GB Christian Härtnagel, said: “At Lidl, our frontline colleagues are the backbone of our business. They have worked tirelessly over the past 18 months of the Covid-19 crisis and are integral to our future success.
"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.
He continued: "This year we feel incredibly lucky to be in a position as a business to go even further by making this significant investment in our incredible workforce, which will make us the best paying supermarket in the UK.”
Chief HR Officer Nan Gibson said: “In 2015 we became the first supermarket in the UK to match the rates advocated by the Living Wage Foundation, and we are proud to have consistently increased wages every year since.
"There is no denying how hard our people work, more so than ever during recent times, and we’re delighted to be able to give our store and distribution centre colleagues the recognition they deserve and look forward to welcoming new colleagues to our teams in the months ahead.”
The wage increase, which will come into effect from March 2022, forms part of the discounter’s wider plans to invest £1.3bn in the UK in 2021 and 2022, alongside a 1,000 stores target by the end of 2023.
