Marks & Spencer has today announced a £95m investment in its retail pay offer. This is the biggest investment M&S has made in its retail pay offer and third consecutive increase since Stuart Machin became CEO in 2022, despite new cost pressures from the Government.
From 1 April, the rate of pay for UK Customer Assistants (approximately 50,000 colleagues) will increase from £12 to £12.60 per hour, representing a 5% increase on last year and a 26% increase since 2022, which is double the rate of inflation over the same period (13.5%). For a full-time colleague outside of London, that’s an increase of around £98* per month compared to today’s current rate.
For Customer Assistants working in London, the hourly rate will increase from £13.15 to £13.85, representing a 5.3% increase on last year.
For UK Team Support Managers, the hourly rate will increase from £13.05 to £13.65, while for those in London, it will increase from £14.20 to £14.90.
Last year, M&S invested £89m in its UK retail pay and a further £5m annual investment to enhance its maternity, paternity, and adoption policies. The 2025 investment means that since 2022, M&S has invested more than £285 million in its retail pay package. It also means that every UK store colleague will continue to be paid the Real Living Wage as their base pay, with M&S’s wide range of benefits – such as its industry leading 20% colleague discount, which when combined could be worth up to £15.40 per hour. The leading benefits package includes:
- An uncapped industry leading 20% colleague discount across all M&S branded food and clothing, home and beauty products – as well as selected branded products.
- An industry-leading pension contribution of up to 12%.
- The opportunity to participate in colleague Sharesave scheme.
- Access to a 24/7 virtual GP service and employee assistance programme for colleagues and their family.
- 26 weeks maternity / adoption leave at full pay and six weeks paternity leave at full pay.
- Neonatal Leave of up to 12 weeks’ fully paid leave for any UK colleague whose baby requires specialist neonatal care, without having to worry about using up their maternity, paternity or adoption leave.
- Life cover of up to 4x salary.
- Free eye tests at M&S Opticians.
- Access to six free physiotherapy sessions.
- Further benefits to support health and wellbeing, including Check4Cancer support and risk assessments for the top five most common cancers in the UK – with free screenings for colleagues at higher risk.
- Support for colleagues experiencing menopause, as well as uniform and specialist line manager training.
Stuart Machin, M&S chief executive, said: “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 £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.”
