Workers at Costa Coffee will receive a 5% pay rise from 1 October, an increase of at least 45p an hour.
The coffee chain, owned by Coca-Cola, is aiming to recruit 2,000 more staff before the busy Christmas period and hopes to retain existing staff through a pay increase and range of benefits including a quarterly incentive scheme, free coffees while on shift, a support fund and pension scheme.
Minimum pay will increase to £9.36 per hour, up from the statutory minimum wage for those over 23 of £8.91. Fully trained staff – so-called ‘Barista Maestros’ – will see pay increased by 65p an hour, from £9.64 to £10.29.
Top rates of pay for store staff will increase to £11.29 from £10.64, the company said. The average worker will see annual take-home pay increase by between £500 and £900, while the highest paid will see an increase of between £700 and £1,400.
The minimum rate is still below the Living Wage Foundation’s recommended rate of £9.50 an hour outside London and £10.85 within the capital, however.
Neil Lake, managing director of Costa for UK and Ireland, said the pay increase was a way to thank staff “as we continue to emerge stronger from the pandemic”.
“Our teams have been through the most challenging year and a half in living memory and have shown incredible passion, resilience, and commitment as they continue to serve perfectly crafted cups of Costa coffee to consumers across the country,” he said.
“We are committed to putting our team members first, investing in their safety and wellbeing and their long-term development, ensuring we remain a great place to work for all our current team members and the 2,000 team members we’ll be welcoming in the coming months.”
Hospitality businesses have struggled to recruit staff in the past months since pandemic restrictions eased. A survey by Indeed Flex this summer found that in some cases, hospitality businesses had been forced to push wages up by 14% to attract temporary staff.
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Over the course of the pandemic when cafes and restaurants were closed, many found alternative employment in other sectors, while Brexit has reduced employers’ ability to recruit EU workers.
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