Aldi to push through rise in pay to its employees

The German discounter said more than 3,350 UK employees will benefit from the February 1 pay hike, which marks an increase on its current minimum pay of £8.40 an hour nationally and £9.45 in London.

The move will see Aldi pay more than the voluntary Living Wage rate of £8.45 an hour announced by the Living Wage Foundation in November, while it also beats the Government’s national Living Wage of £7.20 an hour, which will go up to £7.50 in April.

Aldi claimed its rate of pay will be the highest in the supermarket sector, beating closest rival Lidl’s recently announced increase to £8.45 nationally from March.

Matthew Barnes, chief executive of Aldi’s UK operations, said: “We recognise the valuable contribution that our thousands of store employees make every day. Their dedication and commitment is a key reason why Aldi is the UK’s fastest-growing supermarket.”

Aldi is also recruiting 4,000 new permanent employees across stores and warehouses over 2017 as it looks to open around 70 new shops this year. The group, which already employs 29,000 staff in total across the UK, will open its 700th UK store in February, putting it on track to hit a target of 1,000 by 2020. It is also set to open a distribution centre in Cardiff.