Britain’s M&S To Hire 10,000 Workers For Christmas Season

British clothing and food retailer Marks & Spencer said on Monday it plans to recruit 10,000 temporary workers for the Christmas season, a more than 40% increase on last year.

The group, one of the best known in Britain, said the increase reflected the additional investment it is making in staff hours to support customers on the shop floor.

The temporary workers will start from Nov. 19.

In August, M&S raised its profit outlook on the back of strong trading and last month it rejoined Britain’s FTSE 100 stock index after a four-year hiatus.

Shares in M&S are up 76% so far this year.

Last week, supermarket group Sainsbury’s said it was recruiting 22,000 temporary workers for Christmas, a 22% increase on last year as it boosted its labour force earlier in the season than usual.

Tesco, Britain’s biggest retailer, said it would take on 30,000, the same as last year.

(Reporting by James Davey, Editing by Kylie MacLellan)