Sainsbury's lifts pay after shareholder pressure

Sainsbury's has said it is raising the pay for some of its London staff following pressure from shareholders.

Workers at outer London stores will be paid the same £11.05 hourly rate as inner London colleagues.

It means all Sainsbury's shop workers will get the voluntary Real Living Wage, which is higher than the compulsory National Living Wage.

In March, Sainsbury's increased its basic rate of pay from £9.50 to £10 an hour for staff across its supermarkets and Argos stores.

At the same time, outer London workers' pay climbed to £10.50 an hour but inner London pay climbed to the Real Living Wage rate of £11.05.

Sainsbury's new pay deal means all its supermarket workers across the country will be paid the relevant Real Living Wage, matching earlier moves by Lidl, Aldi and Marks & Spencer.

Simon Roberts, chief executive of Sainsbury's, said the company "wanted to help colleagues plan and manage the cost of living in the year ahead".

"We are always looking at what more we can do and have therefore decided to increase pay rates for outer London to £11.05 so that Sainsbury's and Argos retail colleagues are paid the Real Living Wage and London Living Wage from May," he added.

Although Sainsbury's has boosted pay for its employees, the supermarket has made no commitment relating to the pay of third-party staff, such as cleaners and security guards.

The Real Living Wage is currently £11.05 in London and £9.90 for the rest of the UK.

Half of the companies listed on the FTSE 100 share index are among the more than 9,500 accredited Living Wage employers.

It is set by the Living Wage Foundation charity and is different to the National Living Wage, which sets out the minimum a worker can be paid per hour by law.

The National Living Wage applies to workers over the age of 23, and is currently £9.50 per hour.

There is also the National Minimum Wage for those aged 21 to 22, which is currently £9.18.