LIDL workers are set to be the best-paid supermarket staff when the chain boosts their pay in March.
Store and warehouse workers in London will earn up to £13.85 an hour, and those in the rest of the country £13 an hour.
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New workers will get £13.55 an hour in London, up from £12.85, and £12 outside the capital, up from £11.40, with wages rising with experience.
German-owned Lidl is also introducing a bank holiday premium of £2 an hour and will raise its night shift premium to £3.50 an hour.
The increase is the third in the last 12 months and will cost the firm £37million.
Lidl GB boss Ryan McDonnell said: “Investing in our people is vital as we set our sights further on increasing our market share.”
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The new rate will top a pay rise being handed to Sainsbury’s workers from March which will see London workers getting £13.15 an hour and others £12 an hour.
Supermarkets have been vying to offer the best pay to attract workers.
The National Living Wage is set to rise to £11.44 an hour in April and for the first time includes 21 and 22-year-olds.
The stores’ wage battle will see tens of thousands of workers getting more than the minimum a month before the new rates are introduced, with Aldi and Tesco expected to announce better terms, too.
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Aldi pays £11.40 an hour outside London and £12.85 inside the capital, and Tesco £11.02 and £11.95.
Discount chain Lidl said its entry-level rates will be up to 17 per cent higher than the new National Minimum Wage.
The firm said it had record trading over Christmas, with sales in the four weeks ending 24 December up 12 per cent on the year before.
It also claimed to have won £116million of customer spend from rivals.
Primark’s sales get top mark
PRIMARK owner Associated British Foods said sales climbed over Christmas as higher prices helped to beat the blow of warm autumn weather.
They rose two per cent, while Primark’s UK market share hit a record seven per cent.
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It reported strong demand for festive ranges and said its Rita Ora collection had sold well.
Elsewhere, new store openings helped to boost its performance in the US, where total sales climbed 45 per cent.
It said it did not expect “significant disruption” from the Red Sea shipping attacks, despite rivals warning about stock delays and cost hikes.
Peppa’s a Lego goer
PEPPA Pig fans will soon be able to make their favourite curly-tailed character in toy bricks following owner Hasbro’s collaboration with Lego.
Hasbro has also signed a deal for Peppa Pig rides to appear in Merlin theme parks for the first time.
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Casey Collins of Hasbro said: “We’re working with best-in-class partners to deliver toys and experiences tailored to Peppa Pig’s littlest fans.”
The three companies say their goal is to design play experiences “giving children the confidence to treat every first step as a new adventure and confidently jump into all of life’s muddy puddles”.
Lego said Peppa Pig will be available in its Duplo brick range, suitable for the under-fives.
Ryanair U-turn
RYANAIR has signed a partnership with an online travel agent despite calling the companies “pirates”.
The Irish budget airline has agreed a deal with Love- Holidays to offer its flights as part of package trips.
Last week it accused online agents of selling flights without its permission.
But Ryanair’s Dara Brady said: “If they play by our rules we’d be happy to work with others.”
Loveholidays is the third biggest package holiday provider in the UK, and the largest online travel agent.
AMAZON has been fined £27million in France for its “excessive” surveillance of warehouse staff.
Watchdogs ruled workers’ handheld scanners were illegal because they measured activity so precisely that they had to justify every break.
Bakewell sliced
PREMIER FOODS has pledged to cut more prices to ranges such as Loyd Grossman cooking sauces and Mr Kipling Bakewell Slices.
Its prices soared as inflation rose in 2023, but some were lowered towards the end of the year.
The move helped sales to climb 14.4 per cent, it said. Boss Alex Whitehouse said: “The lower promotional price points we introduced in the third quarter have positively impacted performance.”
Premier sold 190million mince pies in the festive period, up four million on 2022.
Co-Op ‘to welcome 3m more’
THE CO-OP has revealed ambitious plans to grow its membership from five million to eight million by 2030.
It intends to open 400 new Nisa convenience stores and double the number of franchised shops during that time.
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And it also plans to improve and expand its range of funeral, legal and insurance ranges.
To encourage customers to sign up for membership, the retailer is introducing 117 price cuts from today.
Member prices were introduced on 175 everyday products last year but for the first time the offers will also include branded goods.
Boss Shirine Khoury-Haq said: “Our membership is not a loyalty scheme but rather a different way of doing business.
“We exist and are run for the benefit of members.”
The price reductions on baked goods, dairy, soft drinks and pet food could see members save up to £10 a week, the firm claimed.
Airport’s loan woe
THE future of Southend Airport looks uncertain after its owner Esken warned that it faced demands to urgently repay a loan of nearly £200million.
The airport could be forced to suspend operations, said Esken chairman David Shearer.
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He said he was “doing everything I can” to avoid closure.
Mr Shearer said lender Carlyle is trying to force through repayment of a £194million loan within days,even though it had been set to mature in 2028.
The Budget at a glance:
