Supermarket chain Aldi raises pay for staff for second time in a year

​Supermarket operator Aldi is raising pay for its store staff in Peterborough for the second time this year.

​Aldi, which has five stores in Peterborough and employs 400 people across the county, is paying an extra 40 pence an hour from June 1.

The pay increase is for store assistants and deputy store managers and means the hourly rate will rise from £12 to £12.40.

Aldi says the investment marks the supermarket’s latest commitment to its people, after becoming the first supermarket to pay Cambridgeshire's store and warehouse colleagues at least £12 an hour in February.

The chain store operator also says it is the only supermarket to offer paid breaks, which for the average store colleague is worth more than £900 a year.

The rise takes Aldi’s investment in pay so far this year to £79 million as it looks to create 5,500 new jobs in the UK this year.

Giles Hurley, Chief Executive Officer of Aldi UK and Ireland, said: “We firmly believe that our colleagues are the best in the business, so it is only right that they remain the best-paid and we are committed to never being beaten on pay by any other supermarket.

“Our store operations colleagues play an integral part in our ever-increasing popularity among shoppers and our continued investment in their pay is another way to thank them for the role they play in making Aldi what it is today.”

Aldi is the UK’s fourth-largest supermarket and has more than 1,000 stores, 11 regional distribution centres and 45,000 colleagues across Britain.