Asda on Friday said that it would give more than 120,000 workers across the UK an 8.4 per cent pay rise from 1 July to £12.04 per hour.

The supermarket’s hourly rate for retail pay currently stands at £11.11 outside of London, and £12.28 in the capital where the rate will increase to £13.21.

The UK’s minimum wage rate is set to rise from £10.42 per hour to £11.44 on 1 April.

Asda said that it would invest a record £150 million in its retail pay offer to become the highest paying UK grocery retailer.

Mohsin Issa, Asda co-owner, said: “This record investment will see Asda become the highest paying grocery retailer in the UK, recognising the hard work of our store colleagues in serving customers every day.

We want to be a company that people are proud to work for, which is why we are proposing increasing pay for retail and Express colleagues by more than 8 per cent this year.”

Asda chief people and corporate affairs officer Hayley Tatum added that the supermarket’s “continued investment in our people is reflective of the hard work and commitment of our colleagues in serving customers every day.”

The announcement was made as the company opened its 1,000th UK retail location – an express store in Stevenage, Hertfordshire.

The Bank of England has said that it is keeping tabs on salary increases as it assesses whether it can cut interest rates, which sit at their highest level since 2008.

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