Britain’s Co-operative is the latest supermarket retailer to raise staff pay ahead of the government’s minimum wage increase in April.
The retailer, commonly known as the Co-op, announced it would increase pay for 37,000 store workers by 10.1%.
The Co-op is owned by its members and is currently the seventh largest supermarket group in the UK.
The hourly rate of pay will rise to £12 in Co-op stores across the UK, level with Sainsbury’s new wage.
It will rise to £13.15 in London, where the cost of living is higher.
Minimum wage in Britain is rising on 1 April from £10.42 per hour to £11.44.
This increase will bring minimum wage in line with the National Living Wage, though still below the Real Living Wage.
The Bank of England (BoE) is closely monitoring wage changes as it assesses the direction of interest rates.
Inflation remained steady at 4% in January, but remains at double the BoE’s target of 2%.
Despite the steadying of inflation, the bank have been reluctant to cut interest rates.
This is due to the concern that increased wages and services price inflation may drive up general inflation in the long term.
Earlier this week, Britain’s leading supermarket Tesco announced a 9.1% rise in store worker pay.
Sainsburys announced a 9% pay rise for staff in January, which is due to be introduced in April.
Asda said they would be raising base pay for store workers to £12.04 per hour.
Retailers Aldi, Lidl, and Marks and Spencer also announced increased pay ahead of the rise of minimum wage.
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