Fri 7th Oct 2022 - Whitbread invests £15m in staff pay Whitbread invests £15m in staff pay: Whitbread has set out a pay support package to help its UK-based hourly-paid team members as a result of increases In the cost of living. From Friday, 4 November the company is increasing the rates of pay of more than 30,000 employees working in its hotels and restaurants and guest support teams, making an additional investment of circa £15m. Minimum pay rates will increase by more than 4%. This follows increases in April 2022 and October 2021, which combined, represents an uplift of more than 10% since October 2021. Rates of pay will continue to remain ahead of both the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage and between 2019 and November 2022, entry pay rates will have increased by 22%, Whitbread said. About 1,400 salaried hotel and restaurants managers will also benefit from salary increases to ensure a minimum differential is maintained, again applicable from Friday, 4 November. Alongside the increase in base pay, Whitbread will also provide a one-off payment of up to £300 for all eligible hourly paid team members and its customer contact centre employees at Whitbread’s Dunstable headquarters – with more than 34,000 – or 90% – of the total UK workforce eligible for this one-off payment. Base pay for colleagues is already supplemented by discounts of up to 60% off hotel stays, 25% off food, a matched pension contribution scheme of up to 10% employer contributions and Whitbread’s share save scheme. During shifts hourly-paid staff can also enjoy a meal for £2. Simon Ewins, managing director UK hotels and restaurants, said: “As a business, we have seen a strong recovery in the first half as people return to overnight leisure and business trips and we’re hot off the heels of another very busy summer where our hotel and restaurant teams have continued to deliver the outstanding guest service for which they are famous. We want to thank our guest facing team members for their continued support. It remains key to ensure our pay rates remain competitive.” Whitbread is the UK’s largest hospitality company and owner of hotel and restaurant brands including Premier Inn, Beefeater and Brewers Fayre.