[UK] B&Q becomes highest paying retailer with new hourly pay rise

In the UK, DIY and home improvement retailer B&Q has announced that it will be increasing its minimum hourly rate of pay to £12.21 and its London rate to up to £13.55 per hour, Employee Benefits reports.

16,500 B&Q employees will receive an extra 90p per hour in their pay packet from April 2024. The raise represents a hike of over £1,700 more a year for a full-time employee.

B&Q’s minimum hourly pay rate will reportedly be 77p per hour above the government’s national living wage of £11.44 per hour and 21p per hour above the Real Living Wage of £12.00 per hour.

B&Q currently has over 300 stores throughout the UK and Ireland. The retailer states that as a multigenerational employer, it believes everyone deserves the same pay for the work they do irrespective of age.

For that reason, it will pay the same minimum hourly rate to all employees aged 18 years old and over. This includes apprentices, who receive the same pay as other employees doing the same role.

Graham Bell - CEO of B&Q - said, “We want to strengthen the competitiveness of our pay position in the market so that we continue to attract and retain the [employees] we need to serve our customers and help them improve their homes.

“From April, we’ll be increasing pay for our customer advisors by 8 per cent to £12.21 per hour, which for full-time [employees] is worth over £1,700 more a year. This increase means our minimum hourly rate has increased by over 27 per cent in the last 3 years and is currently the highest of any major UK retailer.

“We highly value our front-line [employees] and hope this new hourly rate demonstrates that. Rewarding our [employees] fairly is an important factor in helping us to deliver growth for the business as well as continuing improvement of our customers’ shopping experience, both in store and online.”

In addition to their basic pay, B&Q employees also receive benefits that include a 20 per cent B&Q discount - rising to 30 per cent for energy-efficient products - a pension scheme with up to 14 per cent employer contributions and access to shopping discounts with several other retailers and entertainment brands.

Source: Employee Benefits

(Quotes via original reporting)

In the UK, DIY and home improvement retailer B&Q has announced that it will be increasing its minimum hourly rate of pay to £12.21 and its London rate to up to £13.55 per hour, Employee Benefits reports.

16,500 B&Q employees will receive an extra 90p per hour in their pay packet from April 2024. The raise represents a hike of over £1,700 more a year for a full-time employee.

B&Q’s minimum hourly pay rate will reportedly be 77p per hour above the government’s national living wage of £11.44 per hour and 21p per hour above the Real Living Wage of £12.00 per hour.

B&Q currently has over 300 stores throughout the UK and Ireland. The retailer states that as a multigenerational employer, it believes everyone deserves the same pay for the work they do irrespective of age.

For that reason, it will pay the same minimum hourly rate to all employees aged 18 years old and over. This includes apprentices, who receive the same pay as other employees doing the same role.

Graham Bell - CEO of B&Q - said, “We want to strengthen the competitiveness of our pay position in the market so that we continue to attract and retain the [employees] we need to serve our customers and help them improve their homes.

“From April, we’ll be increasing pay for our customer advisors by 8 per cent to £12.21 per hour, which for full-time [employees] is worth over £1,700 more a year. This increase means our minimum hourly rate has increased by over 27 per cent in the last 3 years and is currently the highest of any major UK retailer.

“We highly value our front-line [employees] and hope this new hourly rate demonstrates that. Rewarding our [employees] fairly is an important factor in helping us to deliver growth for the business as well as continuing improvement of our customers’ shopping experience, both in store and online.”

In addition to their basic pay, B&Q employees also receive benefits that include a 20 per cent B&Q discount - rising to 30 per cent for energy-efficient products - a pension scheme with up to 14 per cent employer contributions and access to shopping discounts with several other retailers and entertainment brands.

Source: Employee Benefits

(Quotes via original reporting)