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You may associate this supermarket with picking up a bargain or browsing the mythical curiosities of its middle aisles. But German grocery giant Lidl is soon to become the highest-paying supermarket in the UK.

Here’s exactly how much it’ll be paying staff, how its wages compare to those of other supermarkets, and why it’s bumping up salaries.

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How much is Lidl paying its supermarket staff?

Beginning in March 2022, Lidl will not only be a cheap supermarket for your groceries it’ll also be paying the highest wages in comparison to other supermarkets.

According to the BBC, the new minimum pay for employees outside London will be £10.10 an hour. Rates will rise to £11.40 for workers with more experience.

For those working within the capital, the supermarket will pay a ‘Lidl’ more to compensate for higher living costs. Sorry, I couldn’t resist the pun. 

Why is Lidl increasing

If you hope to someday reduce the time you spend working or cease working altogether, then you will need to have sufficient savings to support yourself. The retirement outlook for many women today is looking increasingly bleak.

According to a new study, women not only lag far behind their male counterparts in terms of pension savings, but they also face longer life spans and higher costs for associated care needs. To put it simply, women need to save close to £200,000 more during their working lives in order to enjoy the same retirement income as men.

Here’s the lowdown.

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Women’s retirement income shorfall: what does the research show?

According to the latest Women and Retirement Report from Scottish Widows, women need to save £185,000 more during their working lives to enjoy the same retirement income as men.

This ‘colossal gender pension’ gap, as described by Scottish Widows, is made … Read more

Sustainable festivities are a fashionable and worthy goal this year. That doesn’t have to mean splashing out on expensive eco-friendly products, presents and groceries. It’s possible to take care of the environment and your money at the same time. 

Keeping your savings intact while you have a greener, cheaper Christmas is just a question of shopping less, or differently. Buying environmentally friendly versions of the same things will cost much more, but by tweaking some seasonal traditions, you can avoid overspending on your credit card this year. 

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Cheap and green Christmas décor

The Christmas tree tradition began in Germany in the 16th century and is now a universal symbol of a family Christmas. However, for many years before that, it was the custom to decorate homes with all kinds of greenery at the Winter Solstice, as a reminder of spring.

So, if you want to be really traditional – … Read more

Buying ultra-cheap UK shares can be a frightening experience. It’s never fun watching stocks see-saw in value. And this can be a common problem with low-cost stocks.

However, such volatility doesn’t hamper my appetite for cheap British stocks. I invest according to the returns I expect to make over a long time horizon, say a decade or more. Over this sort of timescale the very best stocks tend to sail through such choppiness and deliver mighty shareholder profits.

Here are three great-value stocks I think could help me do just that.

A cheap UK healthcare share

I’m thinking of investing in some choice healthcare shares to give my portfolio a bit more robustness. And Totally (LSE: TLY) is one low-cost medical stock I’m running the rule over right now. This business provides urgent care services in partnership with the NHS. These include the NHS 111 emergency phone line and a … Read more

Who doesn’t like a nice piece of cake? Judging from sales figures at cheap UK share Cake Box Holdings (LSE: CBOX) it seems like Britons can’t get enough of these sweet treats.

Revenues surged 90%-plus at Cake Box franchise stores in the four months to September. It was a result that didn’t just reflect the weak comparatives of a year earlier when Covid-19 lockdowns hit trade. It also illustrated the success of new store rollouts and trials in major supermarkets. The baker’s tie-up with the likes of Uber Eats to exploit the online delivery boom is also paying off handsomely.

Pleasingly, Cake Box doesn’t seem to be slowing down with its ambitious growth drive either. The company has opened another three franchise stores since the beginning of October alone, taking the total to 177. Competition is intense from supermarkets, along with other specialist bakers like Greggs. But I still … Read more