Itsu to give staff a 13% pay rise

Asian-inspired restaurant chain Itsu has given its entire workforce a 13% pay rise to help with the rising cost of living.

Over 1,200 restaurant staff in its 76 UK sites saw an increase in their wages from 1 September, with entry-level pay boosted to a minimum of £11.50 per hour.

Itsu said this was almost 20% higher than the “average industry hourly wage” of £9.80 and showed its commitment to retaining staff as it looks to expand in the UK.

It is the second time Itsu has raised wages in the past year. Last September, the chain increased the hourly wage for entry-level team members by 11% to a minimum of £10.40 per hour amid a widespread shortage of hospitality staff.

Ganan Kanagathurai, chief executive of Itsu, said: “We are committed to looking after our people, in what are going to be difficult times for many of them. We’ll always pay our teams as much as we can afford rather than what we can get away with.”

Itsu is on course to open 15 new restaurants in 2022, which it said would create more than 200 jobs.

The Asian-inspired group was founded by Julian Metcalfe, one of the co-founders of Pret A Manger, in London in 1997. It has since opened international locations in New York and Paris.

Image: I Wei Huang / Shutterstock