Invite a manager to increase his wages for the second time in four months | Pret a Manger

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Pret a Manger is raising wages for the second time in four months as labor shortages drive up wages across the hospitality and retail industries.

The coffee chain said it had invested more than 9.2 million pounds in increasing hourly wages from a minimum of 9.40 pounds to 9.80 pounds, with more than 6,900 of its 8,500 employees earning at least 10 pounds an hour. It follows a 5% wage increase to £9.40 an hour in September.

Workers will also be able to earn an additional £1.25 an hour, based on a weekly mystery shopper rating, up from £1.

Britt, which has 550 outlets worldwide, said the changes were the largest increase in pay and benefits in its 36-year history and were the result of its successful transformation strategy since 2020 and the “strongest position the company now holds.”

The company said in-store sales were “recovering strongly” last year, and although they have fallen since the government’s new directive to work from home due to the Omicron variant of Covid-19, new business areas have been doing well.

The group’s subscription service, launched in September, is now used more than a million times a week in the UK, and home delivery is on the rise.

“We have said all along that as our business recovers, we want to reinvest in our people. Today, as we move into a new phase of our transformation strategy, I am really pleased that we are in a position to do exactly that,” said Pano Christo, Brit CEO.

The workers’ payment comes just five months after Britt workers threatened to go on strike after being told the company would stop paying for breaks, meaning anyone working an eight-hour shift, including a legally required half-hour break, would get Pay cuts of just over 6% rosy compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Britt also initially planned to permanently halve weekly mystery shopper bonuses to 50 pence an hour but backed out after the move was revealed by The Guardian, sparking public outrage.

The increase is the latest in a series of retail and hospitality wage increases.

In September, competition chain Costa gave its workers a 5% wage increase to £9.36 an hour while Itsu, the Asian-inspired fast food chain, increased its minimum hourly wage by 11% to a minimum of £10.40 an hour.

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Last week, Sainsbury said it would increase hourly wages by more than 5% to £10 an hour for lower-wage shop workers. Aldi will raise minimum hourly rates for shop workers to £10.57 an hour from £9.55 nationally from February, up nearly 11%, and to £11.32 in Greater London from £11.07.

Next said it will have to raise the price of its clothing by up to 6% this fall, as the fashion and homeware retailer expects average wages to rise more than 5% this year.

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