Aldi has claimed it is now the UK’s highest paying supermarket after increasing its hourly rate for the second time this year.

The move will see pay for store assistants and deputy store managers rise from £12.00 to £12.40 nationally, while those within in the M25 will receive an hourly increase of 10p from £13.55 to £13.65.

The latest pay increase, which takes the retailer’s total investment in staff wages this year to £79 million, comes after Aldi boosted pay for its shop workforce to at least £12 an hour in February.

Last month, Aldi also announced plans to create 5,500 new roles across the UK in 2024.

The budget supermarket currently has over 1,000 stores and more than 45,000 employees.

“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,” said Giles Hurley, chief executive officer of Aldi UK and Ireland. “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.”

Earlier this week, clothing and homewares retailer Primark also announced that it is increasing hourly pay for around 27,000 UK-based shop workers by an average of 9.1 per cent.

From the start of April, Primark employees will see their hourly rate hiked to £12 an hour, while those based in London will receive £12.56.

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