Asda: UK groceries shopping retailer to give staff generous pay rise and invest £80m to increase wages, jobs

• Asda is investing £80m to raise hourly wages for 115,000 retail and Asda Express staff
• Pay will increase by 4.7%, raising hourly rates from £12.04 to £12.60, with higher rates for M25 staff
• The pay rise starts in October and is part of a broader £500m investment in retail wages since 2021
• Asda is also introducing new family-friendly policies, including enhanced maternity, paternity, and leave for baby loss
• The increase brings Asda closer to top-paying retailers like Aldi, though still slightly below their rates

One of the UK’s largest supermarket chains has announced it will raise hourly pay rates for store staff, as part of an £80m investment in retail wages.

Asda will increase the wages of around 115,000 Asda retail and Asda Express employees by 4.7% in three stages starting in October.

The increase will bring these employees hourly pay up from £12.04 to £12.60. For staff working at stores within the M25, the hourly rate will rise to £13.82.

While the pay rise will no doubt be welcomed, it still doesn’t quite match the rates of the UK’s top paying retailers; Aldi remains the best supermarket for staff pay with a minimum hourly rate of £12.75, rising to £14.16 in September.

Read more: The highest paying jobs at UK retailers in 2025 revealed - including Asda, Tesco, Aldi, and Lidl

In addition to the retail pay investment, which was agreed upon with trade union Usdaw, Asda is introducing new family-friendly policies for all employees, which will take effect from July.

They policies include an increase in maternity and adoption leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks, a doubling of paternity leave from two weeks to four weeks at full contractual pay, the introduction of kinship carers leave, and paid leave for baby loss before 24 weeks.

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.”

The best paying UK supermarkets and retailers

In a recent roundup by Retail Gazette, the top paying retailers of 2025 were revealed. To see the full table, click here.

Aldi has long been a key player in the retail sector for offering high hourly wages, and remains committed to being "never beaten on pay".

With this in mind, the discount supermarket raised its minimum hourly rate to £12.75 nationally and £14.05 within the M25 at the start of March 2025.

Aldi will make a further adjustment in September, pushing the hourly rate to £12.85 nationally and £14.16 for employees working within the M25.

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Lidl has also raised its pay rates for its hourly-paid colleagues this year. In March, the supermarket increased the hourly rate for 28,000 employees to £12.75 nationally, up from £12.40.

For those with longer service, the pay increases to £13.65, and employees working within London can expect a higher rate of £14.35.

In a somewhat surprising move, the John Lewis Partnership chose to forgo partner bonuses this year, opting instead to invest £114 million into increasing pay for 65,000 of its employees.

The retail giant, which owns both John Lewis and Waitrose, has set new shop floor colleague pay rates at £12.40 outside London and £13.85 within the M25.

Employees in specialist roles will see even higher pay, with the hourly rate increasing to £13.39 outside London and £14.96 within the M25.

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