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Retail & Consumer

M&S defies National Insurance hike to increase staff pay by 5%

The retailer said it will invest almost £300million in its pay over the past three years, well above the rate of inflation, in addition to its market-leading discount and pension offer for colleagues.

Marks & Spencer logo(Image: Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)

Marks and Spencer has unveiled a £95m wage boost for its retail personnel, notwithstanding the "cost pressures" emanating from government actions.

Beginning 1 April, pay rates for 海角视频 Customer Assistants will climb from £12 to £12.60 an hour, marking a 5% year-on-year increase and a 26% rise since 2022 — surpassing the government's new national living wage of £12.21 per hour, as reported by .

M&S Chief Executive Stuart Machin commented, "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."

He further stated, "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," he added.

M&S Food Hall(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)

Before this declaration, Marks and Spencer predicted that the uptick in employers' national insurance (NICs) would push their wage bill up by £120m — a number anticipated to grow.

The NIC changes, notably the lower threshold adjustment, took many businesses by surprise, especially those dependent on part-time work in sectors such as hospitality and retail.

According to research by 海角视频Hospitality, changes to national insurance contributions (NICs) will result in an additional £2,500 expense for employing the average worker. Earlier this year, M&S joined a prominent group of retailers in cautioning the Treasury that hundreds of thousands of retail jobs were under threat due to unsustainable cost increases.