LONDON (Reuters) – The UK arm of Spanish lender Santander said on Tuesday it would award around 11,000 UK-based employees a 4% pay rise to help with the increased cost of living, as inflation cripples household budgets across Britain and beyond.
“This 4% pay raise will make a real difference to the majority of our customer facing and contact centre staff who are committed to helping our customers and businesses prosper in the current economic climate,” Chief Executive, Mike Regnier said in a statement.
All employees earning under 35,000 pounds ($41,958) will be eligible for the rise, which covers 60% of the bank’s workforce, Santander said.
The bank also said it would increase its entry level salaries to 19,500 pounds from August 1.
Santander joins a chorus of banks including Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest announcing similar pay increases for lower-paid staff after inflation in Britain hit a 40-year high of 9.1% in May.
($1 = 0.8342 pounds)
(Reporting By Sinead Cruise)
