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Co-op has introduced a new £13.04 rule across all of its supermarkets in the UK this month. Frontline staff at Co-op stores across the UK will now be paid the higher rate, which came into effect in April.

It is the latest British supermarket chain to introduce increased pay for staff, giving them a boost of 3.5%, an increase which took effect this month. It joins several other supermarkets now paying above £13 per hour.

Additionally, staff who work at a Co-op store within the M25 (the Greater London area) will receive a new hourly wage of £14.29, as reported by Retail Week in the last few days. Co-op has more than 2,500 stores across the UK, with most of these sites (around 80%) located in England.

While the pay boost is welcome news for staff, it still doesn't match the Real Living Wage outside London, which is currently £13.45 per hour. Many supermarkets have been urged to restore worker pay in line with the real living wage after a fall-off in such commitments over the past year.

Aldi is the leading supermarket when it comes to staff pay. Aldi workers outside of London earn £13.50 an hour, while workers in London earn £14.88 after an increase that came into effect on April 1.

Additionally, these rates rise to £14.47 and £15.20 respectively based on length of service. This is not only well above the National Minimum Wage, but also higher than the living wage.

Lidl is in second place, having recently increased staff pay from £13 to £13.45 an hour nationally and from £14.35 to £14.80 an hour in London. This increases to £14.45 and £15.30 with length of service.

Meanwhile, Tesco increased its minimum pay from £12.64 to £13.35 an hour from March 2026, according to The Workers Union. For Tesco workers in London, the hourly rate is approximately £14.71.

M&S increased its pay from £12.60 to £13.41 per hour this month, with the rate going from £13.85 to £14.74 per hour for London workers.

In March, Sainsbury's increased its hourly rate from £12.60 to £13.23 per hour nationally and from £13.70 to £14.54 per hour in London, while Asda pays its workers £12.60 an hour, as of October 2025, and £13.82 for those inside London.

Hourly pay at Morrisons, according to the most recent reports, staff at Morrisons get paid £12.21 nationally and £13.06 in London. This means that Co-op staff now get paid more than staff at Morrisons and Sainsbury's.

The National Minimum Wage has increased this month, meaning millions of workers got a pay boost this year. For workers 21 years of age and over, the rate increased from £11.44 to £12.21.

However, workers aged 18 to 20 get a slightly lower minimum wage rate. That rate increased from £8.60 to £10 per hour. Meanwhile, workers under the age of 18 and apprentices enjoyed an increase from £6.40 to £7.55 per hour.

The increases were introduced following recommendations by The Low Pay Commission (LPC), which is an independent body that advises the Government on the levels of the National Minimum Wage (NMW), including the National Living Wage (NLW).