Asda unveils £80m investment into retail pay

Asda has unveiled an £80m investment into retail pay, raising hourly rates for store-based workers to £12.60 from October.

Around 115,000 Asda retail and Asda express staff members will be given a pay rise of 4.7% across three phases, boosting wages from £12.04 to £12.60 per hour.

Additionally, hourly pay rates for staff members at stores within the M25 will increase to £13.82.

The supermarket has invested over half a billion into retail pay since its acquisition by the Issa brothers and TDR Capital in 2021, raising its hourly base rate by 35% from £9.36 to £12.60.

Alongside the retail pay investment, which saw the new rates agreed with trade union Usdaw, the grocery giant has rolled out new family friendly policies for all staff members, coming into place from July.

The policies include increased maternity and adoption leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks, doubled paternity leave from two weeks to four weeks at full contractual pay, the introduction of kinship carers leave and baby loss pre 24 weeks paid leave.

Asda chief people officer Hayley Tatum MBE said: “We’re proud to have invested more than £500m in retail pay over the last four years.

“Our colleagues are what makes Asda special, and this latest pay investment, plus an increased colleague discount and enhanced family friendly policies, recognises the key role they play in serving customers each day.”

Asda joins Tesco in boosting staff pay, with the UK’s biggest supermarket pumping millions into pay rises for store workers earlier this month.

Co-op also recently granted its store workers a 5% pay rise, with hourly rates rising to at least £12.60 this year.

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