Asda is set to lift hourly pay for its store-based workforce in two stages this spring and summer, with the supermarket saying the move will take its base rate to £13.10 an hour from 5 July. The retailer said the increase will cover 110,000 hourly-paid colleagues across Asda Retail and Asda Express, and forms part of a 4% above-inflation pay award.

The first phase comes on 1 April, when the standard hourly rate rises to £12.71. Staff working in stores inside the M25 will see their pay move to £13.93 in April and then £14.35 in July. Asda said the package represents an £80m investment in frontline staff.

The latest uplift takes total spending on retail pay since the group’s 2021 takeover by TDR Capital and the Issa brothers to £575m, with hourly wages up by about 40% over that period, according to figures released by the company and reported by retail trade titles. Chief people officer James Goodman said store colleagues were central to Asda’s turnaround plan, while chief commercial officer Darren Blackhurst separately welcomed the appointment of Jon Downes as vice-president for ambient, part of a broader push to strengthen senior commercial leadership.

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