Several large UK supermarkets have stopped aligning shop worker pay with the real living wage, a voluntary benchmark set at £13.45 per hour nationally and £14.80 in London. This follows cost pressures in the sector, including high rates bills in Northern Ireland and increased national insurance contributions.

The national minimum wage rose to £12.71 per hour for workers aged 21 and over on April 1. Many supermarkets announced pay increases ahead of this change, with rises above inflation such as Marks & Spencer's at least 6.4%. However, these adjustments fell short of the real living wage.

The Co-operative Group set its pay rise at 3.5% from April and dropped its commitment to the real living wage. Tesco and Sainsbury's also no longer match the benchmark. Marks & Spencer confirmed last month it ended real living wage pay with its latest hike announcement.

Activist investors from ShareAction have urged the biggest grocery chains to restore pay to the real living wage level. Shop worker pay exceeds past levels but trails the voluntary benchmark calculated from living costs.