M&S invests £95m into pay increase for retail staff

M&S has announced a £95m investment in its retail pay offer, its biggest ever investment in pay and third consecutive increase since Stuart Machin became CEO in 2022.

From 1 April, the rate of pay for UK customer assistants will increase from £12 to £12.60 per hour, representing a 5% increase on last year and a 26% increase since 2022, which is double the rate of inflation over the same period (13.5%). 

For a full-time worker outside of London, that’s an increase of around £98 per month compared to today’s current rate. For workers in London, the hourly rate will increase from £13.15 to £13.85, representing 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 invested £89m in its UK retail pay and a further £5m annual investment to enhance its maternity, paternity, and adoption policies. 

The 2025 investment means that since 2022, M&S has invested more than £285m in its retail pay package. It also means that every UK store worker will continue to be paid the real living wage as their base pay. 

Stuart Machin, M&S chief executive, said: “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 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 £300m 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.”