Lidl is raising pay for store workers, with a new offer that is set to make it the highest-paying UK supermarket.
Its entry-level hourly rate is set to rise from £13.65 to £14 within the M25 and from £12.40 to £12.75 elsewhere across the UK.
While its new rate within the M25 matches a pay rise by Aldi, Lidl’s new national rate puts it ahead of its direct discounter rival, which is set to pay UK store workers outside London £12.71 an hour, following an announcement in January. Both discounters’ new rates are effective from 1 March.
Lidl’s rates rise after a minimum length of service, to £13.65 nationally and £14.35 within the M25. These are also ahead of Aldi’s rates, which rise with length of service to £13.62 nationally and £14.23 within the M25.
It means Lidl is set to pay new store workers more than any other supermarket in the country.
The two discounters are typically the joint-highest-paying supermarkets in the country, with their expansion programmes requiring a pipeline of new recruits.
Read more: How pay & benefits stack up at Britain’s biggest supermarkets
Lidl’s new hourly rates come in ahead of the government’s updated national living wage from April, exceeding it by over 50p. Lidl’s rates will also be higher than the Living Wage Foundation’s new real living wage, which is being implemented in April.
Lidl said its latest investment in pay totalled almost £15m, including increases for salaried workers across the business. In the last 12 months, its investment in pay had exceeded £54m, it said.
“More households than ever before are choosing to shop with us, making Lidl the fastest-growing bricks & mortar supermarket for well over a year,” said Lidl GB chief people officer Stephanie Rogers.
“This success is largely due to our hard-working colleagues, who each play an incredibly important role in delivering quality, affordable products to communities across the country. This pay increase is just one part of our commitment to creating a workplace where everyone feels valued.”
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