The retailer is on track to open another 1,000 stores

Lidl has announced a pay increase from next year and according to the supermarket chain, the rise in wage will make it the highest paying supermarket in the UK. The supermarket said higher rates will apply to the capital’s workforce. Lidl commented that “entry-level wages will increase from £9.50 to £10.10 an hour outside of London and £10.85 to £11.30 within the M25 from March 2022, with colleagues earning up to £11.40 and £12.25 respectively, depending on length of service.”

The increase represents a pay rise of more than 6% for some and this will benefit more than 80% of its staff. By comparison, the UK’s minimum wage for workers over 23 is set to rise from its current level of £8.91 an hour to £9.50 from April 2022.

It stated that the increase recognised “the hard work and dedication of frontline colleagues during the last 18 months of the pandemic.”

It comes after continued staff shortages in a market where employers are continuing to struggle to fill roles, affecting the hospitality and retail sectors.

Lidl is expanding and currently has more than 850 stores in Great Britain. According to reports it says it’s still on track to increase that to 1,000 by the end of 2023.

Nan Gibson, Lidl’s chief HR officer, commented to the BBC: “We do not expect to pass that on to customers in the form of price rises.” She said it was currently “very difficult” to recruit staff, adding: “We are competing for talent with all the other retailers and, indeed, other industries.”

Ms Gibson said Lidl’s pay rise was intended to retain existing staff “as far as possible”, but also to attract new workers.

Christian Härtnagel, chief executive at Lidl GB, said: “We have ambitious plans to grow our business across Great Britain, and to do that, we need to ensure we attract and look after the best talent at every level of our business.”