In April, B&Q will increase its UK minimum hourly rate to £12.21 per hour and £13.55 in London, making it the highest-paying major retailer in the country, it claims.

This 8% increase puts B&Q wages ahead of the government's 2024 national living wage of £11.44 per hour, and above the Real Living Wage of £12 per hour, the Retail Gazette has reported.

The investment also builds on the home improvement retailer's 8.9% year-on-year increase last year.

From April 2024, 16,500 B&Q staff will get an extra 90p per hour, totalling over £1,700 more a year for those working full-time.

Whilst national minimum wage rates set by the government differ by age, B&Q prides itself on paying the same minimum hourly rate to all colleagues aged 18 and over, including apprentices.

Graham Bell, B&Q CEO, said: "We want to strengthen the competitiveness of our pay position in the market so that we continue to attract and retain the colleagues we need to serve our customers and help them improve their homes".

"This increase means our minimum hourly rate has increased by over 27% in the last 3 years and is currently the highest of any major UK retailer."

"We highly value our front-line colleagues and hope this new hourly rate demonstrates that. Rewarding our colleagues fairly is an important factor in helping us to deliver growth for the business as well as continuing improvement of our customer's shopping experience, both in-store and online."