Supermarket chain Lidl GB is set to implement a significant pay raise for its 28,000 hourly-paid employees from March 2025.
Under the pay revision, entry-level wages will rise to £12.75 per hour nationwide and have the potential to reach £13.65 with tenure.
In London, starting wages will increase to £14 per hour and could climb to £14.35.
The new hourly rates surpass the government's National Living Wage update, set for April 2025, by more than 50p and exceed the Living Wage Foundation’s newly announced Real Living Wage.
The discounter’s latest wage investment approaches £15m and includes increases for salaried staff across various business functions.
In the year to February 2025, Lidl GB has invested upwards of £54m in employee compensation.
Lidl GB chief people officer Stephanie Rogers stated: “More households than ever before are choosing to shop with us, making Lidl the fastest growing bricks-and-mortar supermarket for well over a year. This success is largely due to our hard-working colleagues, who each play an incredibly important role in delivering quality, affordable products to communities across the country. This pay increase is just one part of our commitment to creating a workplace where everyone feels valued.”
In a separate development, the retailer has announced plans to open four new stores across the UK and refurbish five existing stores, as part of the ongoing expansion strategy.
The new outlets, set to open in February 2025, will create jobs and extend Lidl's market presence.
Locations include Walsall, Canning Town, Preston and Wombourne.
The five stores that will undergo upgrades are Blantyre, Oldbrook, Cwmbran, Wells and West Ealing.
Lidl GB chief development officer Richard Taylor said: “As we begin the new year, we’re maintaining our momentum and opening nine state-of-the-art stores, delivering bigger and better shopping experiences to new communities and those we’ve proudly served for an average of 26 years. After a record-breaking Christmas, where millions of households turned to Lidl, these openings reflect the growing demand for our unbeatable value and quality. This is just the start – we’ve got more openings in the pipeline this year alone and can’t wait to welcome even more customers, both loyal and new, through our doors in the weeks ahead.”
Lidl's expansion comes on the heels of its most successful Christmas season yet in 2024, which attracted nearly two million more shoppers than in previous years.
The holiday sales surge represented a 7% increase from 2023 and took revenues above £1bn for the first time.
In November 2024, Lidl GB planned to invest a further £21bn in the UK food sector by the end of the financial year, surpassing its initial £15bn investment goal.
