Marks & Spencer announces investment in retail pay

British retailer Marks & Spencer has announced its biggest-ever investment in UK retail pay from April 1, committing to a record 95 million pounds.

The move marks the biggest investment M&S has made in its retail pay offer and the third consecutive increase since Stuart Machin became chief executive in 2022, despite new cost pressures from the Government.

From April 1, the rate of pay for UK customer assistants, which accounts for approximately 50,000 employees, will increase from 12 pounds to 12.60 pounds per hour. This represents a 5 percent rise on last year and 26 percent growth since 2022, which is double the rate of inflation over the same period (13.5 percent).

For a full-time M&S worker outside of London, that’s an increase of around 98 pounds per month compared to today’s current rate. For customer assistants working in London, the hourly rate will rise from 13.15 pounds to 13.85 pounds, reflecting a 5.3 percent increase on last year.

In addition, the UK team support managers will see their hourly rate increase from 13.05 pounds to 13.65 pounds. For those in London, it will grow from 14.20 pounds to 14.90 pounds.

The new increases come after the retailer invested 89 million pounds in its UK retail pay and a further 5 million pounds to enhance its maternity, paternity, and adoption policies last year.

The 2025 investment means that since 2022, M&S has invested more than 285 million pounds in its retail pay package. Every UK store worker will continue to be paid the Real Living Wage as their base pay, alongside benefits such as its 20 percent colleague discount.

Stuart Machin, chief executive of M&S, said in a statement: “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.

“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 300 million pounds 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.”