The minimum wage rises again on October 1, putting extra pressure on the payroll. For employees over the age of 22 the rate rises from £3.70 to £4.10 an hour. And according to the person on the other end of the helpline (0845 6000 678), a decision on the rise to be awarded to employees between 18 and 21 years old has not yet been made. Retailers are divided on the issue of the minimum wage. Some, especially those with thriving businesses, are happy to pay it for good staff. Others, struggling in a less-than-perfect location and possibly in the shadow of a giant you-know-who, will be forced to lay off staff and work longer hours themselves. Whatever your position, making sure you have the right staff at the time is the secret to lower payroll costs. Ralph Drew, with distribution management consultants DMA, says he has been applying his formula to this "secret" for nearly 20 years, before the advent of EpoS, central delivery, automatic reordering and all the other changes that have taken place to the range, opening hours and form of the smaller outlet. The principle still holds good. You need to measure the tasks involved and then apply them to the level of the activity. This approach to successful budgeting for man or woman-power can be used, and has been used for almost all types of retailing and has certainly been applied to budget staffing requirements for c-stores operated by T&S Stores, Star News Shops, Forbuoys, the Co-op and NAAFI. Where successfully applied it is usually possible to raise labour productivity by between seven and 12% - more than enough to pay for the increase in the minimum wage. DMA is planning to stage a half-day seminar on the subject in the East Midlands on October 9. Ring 01452 812614 for more information. {{GROCER CLUB }}