M&S invests £95m in staff pay despite cost ‘headwinds’

M&S is investing £95m in increasing pay for over 50,000 of its retail employees.

From 1 April, the rate of pay for UK customer assistants will rise from £12 to £12.60 per hour. This represents a 5% increase on last year and 22% jump since 2022, when Stuart Machin was named CEO.

Customer assistants working in London will see their hourly rate increase from £13.15 to £13.85, representing a 5.3% increase on last year.

For UK team support managers, their pay will increase from £13.05 per hour to £13.65, while for those in London, it will increase from £14.20 to £14.90.

Last year, the retailer 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

The retailer’s chief executive Stuart Machin 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.”

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