Starting from March 2024, Sainsbury’s said it would become the country’s largest supermarket to pay the new Real Living Wage and that the £200m was its biggest-ever investment in colleague pay, upping the wages of 120,000 staff.

Sainsbury’s said that for staff outside London it represents a nearly £2,000-a-year pay rise, rising to almost £2,300 a year for staff in the capital.