STAFF from branches of a popular supermarket chain in Worcestershire are getting a pay rise.

Employees at Aldi branches across the country have been given a boost to their hourly pay which has seen the supermarket maintain its position as the UK’s highest-paying supermarket.

The pay rise will see workers at the Worcester, Evesham and Ledbury branches earn a minimum hourly rate of £9.40 nationally and £10.90 inside the M25, effective from February 1.

They previously earned £9.10 and £10.55 per hour respectively.

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Staff who have worked with Aldi for more than three years will gain a higher pay rise and will see their rate rise to £10.41 per hour with those in London earning £11.15 per hour.

The new rates exceed the Living Wage Foundation’s recommended real living wage rates of £9.30 per hour nationally and £10.75 in London.

Giles Hurley, chief executive for Aldi UK, said: “The dedication and commitment our store colleagues deliver every day when serving our customers underpins our success.

“We have the most efficient and productive workforce, and this is why they earn the highest rates of pay in the grocery sector.

“We want to recruit the best people in retail, invest in their training and provide them with the opportunity to develop their careers with Aldi as our business grows.”

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Aldi, which currently has 874 stores, is in the middle of a substantial recruitment drive, aiming to recruit more than 3,800 store-level positions this year with ambitions to reach 1,200 UK stores by 2025.

The supermarket’s current share of the UK grocery market is 7.8 per cent according to Kantar Worldpanel, having increased by 0.4 per cent during the last 12 months.

Aldi is one of the few supermarkets to still pay colleagues for breaks taken during their shift.

The chain opened its newest county branch, in Evesham, in October last year, to go alongside the existing branches in Worcester and the one in Ledbury.

Worcestershire’s branches of Aldi donated more than 2,000 meals made from unsold food over the Christmas period,