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Aldi is to increase starting pay for store assistants to £13.35 per hour nationally from 1 March 2026 as part of a £36m investment.
Workers within the M25 will see starting rates rise to £14.71. Pay for staff based on length of service will increase to £14.30 per hour, or £15.03 for those inside the M25.
The supermarket is also increasing pay for store apprentices to £12.02 per hour, rising to £13.22 within the M25. The business will also extend maternity pay to 26 weeks at full pay.
Aldi remains the only supermarket to offer paid breaks to all store staff. The company claims this benefit is worth up to £1,470 a year to each colleague.
Chief executive of Aldi UK and Ireland Giles Hurley said: “Our colleagues are at the heart of everything we do. Their hard work and dedication is what allows us to offer customers the quality, value and service they expect from Aldi. That’s why we’re making such a significant investment in our promise to never be beaten on pay for our colleagues.”
Last week, Aldi revealed it welcomed record Christmas sales after shoppers prioritised low prices during the festive period.
The discounter reported sales of £1.65bn in the four weeks to Christmas Eve, up 3% year-on-year, with more than £500m spent in the final week before Christmas.
The retailer committed to undercutting rivals on the cost of a traditional Christmas dinner as part of a £325m investment to reduce prices across hundreds of products during the year.
The UK’s fourth-largest supermarket said 22 December was its busiest trading day, while total sales rose by more than 5% in the week leading up to Christmas. Staff processed more than 57m transactions over the four-week period, the highest number in the company’s history.
Sales of Aldi’s Specially Selected premium own-label range increased by more than 12%, indicating that shoppers continued to trade up on certain items while seeking overall value.
The supermarket also reported strong festive alcohol sales, with more than 5.5 million bottles of sparkling wine sold in the run-up to Christmas.
