Sainsbury’s unveils staff pay rise as Christmas sales climb

Sainsbury’s also announced a staff pay rise which it said would make it “the best paying UK grocer”.

Sainsbury’s total grocery sales rose 4.1% in its third quarter and were 3.8% ahead over the six weeks to January 4. The grocer’s Argos general merchandise business suffered a sales slip of 1.4% over the quarter. Argos’ sales rose 1.1% over an eight week period to reflect Black Friday performance on a comparable basis, and were up 10.2% over the six-week period.

Sainsbury’s total retail sales rose 2.7% over the quarter and were up 2.8% like for like.

Sainsbury’s chief executive Simon Roberts said: “We have won grocery market share for the fifth consecutive Christmas, with more customers choosing Sainsbury’s for their big shop.

“Driven by our leading combination of quality, value and service, we have achieved seven consecutive quarters of volume performance ahead of the market and further accelerated our two-year volume growth.

“The strength of our customer service and operational performance stood us apart in delivering our biggest ever Christmas. Customers shopped later than ever and we achieved our highest ever sales in the final days before Christmas.”

Roberts also revealed details of a pay rise for staff. He said: “Our people are fundamental to achieving our Next Level Sainsbury’s plan and we are pleased to announce that we will raise pay for our hourly-paid colleagues by 5% in the year ahead, split into two separate increases to help manage a particularly tough cost inflation environment. We believe in rewarding our colleagues well for delivering leading service and productivity and we will be the best paying UK grocer from March.”