Primark has announced that it will raise the average of hourly pay rate for retail assistants to £13, or £13.71 in London.

This change will take place from 1 April, giving workers at the retailer an average wage increase of 15 per cent over the past three years.

Kari Rodgers, Primark’s UK retail director, said: “As retail becomes a more demanding environment, our colleagues play an increasingly important role to support our customers and the local communities we’re part of up and down the country. By investing in increasing colleague pay, we hope this goes some way towards recognising their hard work, commitment and the value they bring every day.”

The news comes shortly after Primark announced its new chief executive Eoin Tonge, who has served as interim chief executive since March 2025.

According to the Bank of England, consumer price index inflation has totalled 5.5 per cent in the UK over the last three years, meaning this pay increase is a boost to workers’ income in real terms.

The announcement follow’s Marks & Spencer’s own pay rise last week, which brought its minimum pay for retail workers to £13.41 an hour outside of London and £14.74 inside the M25, while discount grocer Aldi will up its hourly pay. to £13.50 per hour nationally and £14.88 inside the M25, rising to £14.47 and £15.20 respectively based on length of service to become the “highest paying supermarket in the UK”.

On 10 March, the British Chambers of Commerce raised their inflation forecast for the year by 0.6 per cent due to ongoing conflict in the Middle East, suggesting that these inflation- beating pay rises may have less impact than previously imagined.

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