Kwik Fit agrees company-wide pay settlement with Unite

Kwik Fit has announced a 2011 banded pay settlement for 4,400 employees in its 676 UK centres. The settlement provides an increase of 3 per cent for fitting staff on the standard company salary for their grade, affecting the majority of the workforce. All other staff, including managers, supervisors, MOT testers and service technicians, will receive a 2 per cent increase. Kwik Fit said the agreement was reached after amicable discussions with the trade union Unite. The pay increase will be backdated to 1 January 2011.

Paul Boulton, operations director at Kwik Fit, said: “Like many businesses in the UK we are facing challenging trading conditions.  However, we have decided that a wage freeze would not be appropriate in recognising the efforts our employees are making to strengthen our leadership in the sector.

“We are proud to consistently offer the best salaries in the industry, along with the best training and development schemes.  This settlement reinforces the fact that rewarding our staff and ensuring they have the best possible support to meet our customers’ needs remain key to our success.”

Roger Maddison, national officer for motor components of Unite, said: “We have had very positive conversations with Kwik Fit as we have discussed this settlement.  We believe that the decision reached will benefit everyone in what is a difficult economic climate. We feel that the company has demonstrated the high value they place in their staff and clearly recognise the vital role they are playing in the company’s success.”

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