Pandora, the world’s largest jewellery brand, today announced it has increased the hourly pay for its retail employees in the UK & Ireland by up to 14% following its third pay review in the last 12 months. Over the past year, sales assistants in London have received a 10% rise to £11.95 an hour, whilst sales assistant employees across the rest of the UK have seen a 14% increase up to £10.90 per hour. In Ireland, a 12% increase to €13.85 has been applied. Meanwhile, Pandora’s store management employees have received an average 12% increase, as well as the introduction of new minimum pay levels. The changes came into effect on 1 April.
Along with pay increases, Pandora also introduced several new enhanced incentives within its retail operations last year. This included a new monthly bonus incentive for all store teams – from Sales Assistants to Regional Sales Managers, as well as introducing a generous personal allowance for own-brand jewellery up to £500, and an opportunity for employees to win a team holiday to Thailand at the end of the year – where the company’s crafting facilities are based.
The changes are part of the company’s ongoing efforts to invest in and support its 2,400 customer-facing employees who play a crucial role in the success of the business. Earlier this year, Pandora reported +11% growth in sales in the UK&I for its 2022 financial year.
Rasmus Brix, Managing Director for the UK&I at Pandora said: “We have an exceptional team at Pandora who put an incredible amount of passion and energy into making the customer experience so unique. It’s a key reason millions of people put their trust in our brand every day and a major contributor to our overall success as a business.”
He added: “Investing in the growth and fulfilment of our retail teams has been a top priority for us and we’ve put a great amount of effort into fostering a healthy workplace culture – one where our employees are not only rewarded competitively, but also where they feel heard, valued and supported through the right tools, platforms and policies. We are absolutely committed to developing these areas even further as our business experiences growth.”
Over the last several years, Pandora has significantly increased its focus on learning and development opportunities for its staff. This has directly contributed to the promotion of several store-based employees to specialised roles in its regional head office in London, as well as the facilitation of broader moves to other markets in its global remit.
The company’s emphasis on employee satisfaction has led to a higher level of customer satisfaction and loyalty, with both its customer net promoter score – which measures customer satisfaction, and employee net promoter score – which measures employee satisfaction, benchmarking above the market average.
