POUNDSTRETCHER GIVES WORKERS ANOTHER PAY RISE

The Poundstretcher discount chain has announced a 10% pay rise for its store workers following a similar rise just over a year ago.

The business – which recently came out of a Compulsory Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) – said it would give almost 4,000 employees the pay increase from April 1. It applies to anyone who has worked there more than a year, or around 70 per cent of staff.

The Leicestershire-based group previously raised the salaries of all staff with a year’s service by the same percentage back on January 1, 2022, rewarding their hard work following the pandemic and their part in helping turnaround the company’s profits.

Last November management announced they had exited the two year CVA after repaying creditors at a rate of 12p in the pound. The business brought in the legal arrangement back in July 2020 to find a way of offloading high rent stores, and has now paid off around £13 million of what it owed.

Poundstretcher now anticipates growth in sales, profits and store numbers should generate more than 2,000 new jobs over the next five years. It opened 30 new stores in 2022, and plans to open another 50 by the end of this year.

Owner Aziz Tayub said: “This 10% pay raise will make a real difference in this current climate to the majority of our employees who are committed to servicing our customers and growing our business in the current economic climate.

This will be the second year in a row we will have introduced a second pay rise in the same year for our store colleagues. We wanted to do more to support them and to say thank you for their commitment to quality service and customer care.”