Aldi gives 30,000 staff new year pay rise
Aldi has delivered a newyear pay rise for its 30,000 or so store staff and revealed plans to recruit a further 4,000 workers over the year ahead.
The discount supermarket said it will increase its national minimum hourly pay rate for store employees to £9.55 from February 1, from £9.40. Those who work inside the M25 motorway surrounding London will earn at least £11.07 an hour, up from £10.90.
German-owned Aldi is one of the only UK supermarkets to pay for breaks and claimed that, including these, its national hourly rate for an average shift will rise to £10.11.
Rival Morrisons last week became the first UK supermarket chain to announce its minimum pay will increase to at least £10 an hour from April.
Aldi, which has more than 36,000 staff in total across the UK, also said it aims to hire a further 4,000 store workers this year as part of a long-term target of having 1,200 stores by 2025.
It already has more than 900 stores across theuk and is aiming to open around one store every week to reach the goal.
Giles Hurley, chief executive of Aldi UK and Ireland, said: “I want to express my sincere thanks to every single Aldi colleague who stepped up when it mattered and helped us succeed in our most important mission of all - feeding the nation.
“Their outstanding efforts have ensured that our customers continue to have access to fresh affordable food, every single day.”
The firm said its minimum hourly rate of pay for store staff will also rise to £10.57 after three years nationally and £11.32 after two years in London.