Sainsbury’s has revealed plans to hike the hourly wages of 120,000 staff as part of £200 million worth of investment in pay increases.

The supermarket chain, which also owns Argos, said hourly paid employees will see their salaries increase from £11 per hour to £12 per hour in March.

Staff in London, where living costs are typically higher, will be paid £13.15 per hour, up from £11.95.

The National Living Wage is set to rise from £10.42 to £11.44 from April, and for the first time will apply to 21 and 22-year-olds.

The move from Sainsbury’s will mean its staff are paid 56p more per hour than the Government minimum wage, and a month earlier than the official rate comes into effect.

The UK’s Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said it was “great to see Sainsbury’s rewarding hard work” with the nationwide pay increase.

Simon Roberts, the chief executive of Sainsbury’s, said: “Our colleagues do a brilliant job delivering for our customers every day and at the same time they are continuing to face the rising costs of living.

“So, in addition to investing to keep our prices low for customers, I’m delighted to confirm an industry-leading pay increase again this year for all our hourly paid colleagues.”

The retail giant has increased employee pay by 50% since 2018 and by 9% since last year.

It also offers workers free food during shifts, and a discount of 15% for Sainsbury’s staff every Friday and Saturday and Argos staff every payday.

Bally Auluk, the national officer of trade union USDAW, said: “The continuing strong working relationship between USDAW and Sainsbury’s has resulted in an inflation-busting pay award of over 9%, despite inflation falling and following on from the significant pay increases over the previous couple of years.”