Aldi is set to give thousands of workers a pay rise in March.
The minimum hourly rate at the supermarket will rise to £12.71, up from £12.40 an hour currently, while employees working in London will see their hourly pay rise to at least £14, up from £13.65. Store assistant pay will rise further to £13.62 nationally, and £14.23 within the M25, based on the length of service. Aldi employs around 45,000 people in the UK across 1,020 stores.
Giles Hurley, Chief Executive Officer of Aldi UK and Ireland, said: “Our colleagues are the best in the business and this latest pay rise reflects our ongoing commitment to ensuring they remain the best paid. Every single Aldi colleague plays an absolutely vital role in delivering on our promise to bringing unbeatable Aldi prices to even more customers across the UK.”
The pay rise means Aldi will maintain its position as Britain’s best paying supermarket. Sainsbury’s is just behind, after the supermarket said it will raise the minimum across the UK to £12.60 in August, followed by Lidl, where store workers get at least £12.40. The pay increase comes after Mr Hurley signed an open letter to Chancellor Rachel Reeves warning her about the impact of raising National Insurance contributions for employers.
The letter said: “We appreciate the Government’s commitment to improving public finances and investing in public services, and we recognise the vital role businesses play in supporting these efforts. However, the scale and speed of these new costs create a cumulative burden that will inevitably lead to job losses and higher prices.”
The rate of National Insurance paid by firms will rise from 13.8% to 15% from April 2025, while the earnings threshold for when employers start paying National Insurance will also be lowered from £9,100 per year to £5,000. Labour is also raising the minimum wage for workers. The National Living Wage for people aged 21 and over will rise to £12.21 in April, up from £11.44 currently.
Meanwhile, Aldi this week lost a trademark battle against Thatchers over its cloudy lemon cider, after the Somerset-based brewer sued the supermarket for infringement. The High Court in London dismissed Thatchers’ case last January, with a judge saying there was a low degree of similarity between the products and no likelihood of confusion for consumers.
But Thatchers decided to challenge the ruling at the Court of Appeal, and on Monday three judges allowed the appeal. An Aldi spokesperson said they were “disappointed” with the ruling and that the company intends to appeal it. An Aldi spokesperson said: “Aldi offers exclusive brands as low-price alternatives to more expensive branded products. The High Court was clear that Aldi customers know what they are buying when they shop with us.”
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