Workers with supermarket chain Aldi in Peterborough get second pay rise in a year

Scores of staff with supermarket chain Aldi are to get their second pay rise in a year.

The discounter, which has five stores in Peterborough plus one in Stamford and another in Spalding, is handing staff a new wage hike that bosses say will retain the Aldi’s position as the UK’s best-paying supermarket.

The increase will mean that from September, all hourly paid colleagues at its stores will receive an increase of 40p an hour on their current hourly rate.

This will take Aldi’s minimum pay rates for Store Assistants to a what it says is a sector-leading £10.50 an hour nationally and £11.95 for those staff working inside the M25 near London.

Aldi also says that it remains the only supermarket to offer paid breaks, which for the average store colleague is now worth more than £830 a year.

The new rates go beyond the Living Wage Foundation’s recommended real living wage of £9.90 an hour nationally and £11.05 inside the M25.

Giles Hurley, Chief Executive Officer of Aldi UK and Ireland, said: “Our new rates of pay maintain Aldi’s position as the UK’s highest paying supermarket.

“This announcement recognises the amazing contribution our colleagues make in serving the local communities in Cambridgeshire. Their outstanding efforts have ensured that our customers continue to have access to fresh affordable food, every single day.”

Aldi is the UK’s fifth-largest supermarket and has more than 970 stores across Britain.

Last November, rival supermarket chain Lidl announced plans to become the ‘UK’s highest paying supermarket’ by increasing the hourly wages for all its store and warehouse workers.

It said entry-level wages would rise from a minimum of £9.50 per hour to a minimum of £10.10 per hour, going up to £11.40.