Wickes, which has more than 230 branches across the country, has just introduced a new £13 rule across its UK stores in a boost for its workforce.
From this week (April 1), the hardware store has raised its minimum hourly pay rates to almost £13 for all retail assistants across England, Scotland and Wales. Wednesday saw the National Living Wage (for those 21 and over) rise to £12.71, while 18-20 year olds earning under the new National Minimum Wage have had their hourly pay increased to £10.85. Apprentices and under-18s will get a minimum of £8 per hour.
It comes as various retailers increase pay for shop assistants from today, as cost-of-living pressures continue to hit British households. The DIY giant is also planning to open 70 new sites over the next few years, for a total of 300. This will create 2,000 more jobs across the UK.
Chief executive David Wood said that DIY in the UK was “distinctive” due to the amount of poor quality homes, which are usually “owner-occupied and a really important financial asset”.
He added: “They are the oldest housing stock in all of Europe, and so need constant repair, maintenance, and improvement.”
Wickes saw its sales rose 6% to £1.6 billion and pre-tax profit grew from £23 million to £49 million, in the year to December 27, 2025.
Wood said: “This has been another year of strong progress against our strategy. We’ve achieved volume-driven growth across all three areas of the business, as the strength of our proposition continues to resonate with customers.
“Given the strength of investment returns from our proven store refit and new store rollout strategy, we have today announced the decision to accelerate our investment for future growth.
“This takes our ambition to reach 300 stores nationwide – creating over 2,000 new jobs as we bring Wickes’ distinctive offer to new locations up and down the UK.”
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