NLW April 2026 — the £12.71 rate and what it does to kitchen staffing
The April 2026 increase to the National Living Wage moved the 21+ rate to £12.71 per hour. For kitchen porter staffing, the increase is small in headline terms but has compound effects on operator economics.
The headline change
2025: £11.44/hour (21+)
April 2026: £12.71/hour (21+)
Annualised at 38 hours/week: £25,114 vs £22,599 — roughly £2,500 more per year per direct-hire KP.
The fully-loaded direct-hire cost
£12.71 is the wage paid to the operative. The fully-loaded employer cost — wage + NI + employer pension + statutory holiday pay + sick pay accrual — is roughly £14.80/hour, up from £13.40/hour pre-April.
The knock-on effects we see
- Agency rate uplift: agency hourly rates rose by roughly the same delta in April 2026 to maintain operative differentials. Our standard rate moved from £17/hour to £18.50/hour for daytime cover.
- Margin compression: operators who held menu prices flat through 2025 absorbed the increase. Most followed with 5–8% menu-price increases in May/June 2026.
- Hours rationalisation: many kitchens cut KP hours by 5–10% in April-May 2026 — typically by rationalising overlap or moving from 2 KPs to 1 KP + 1 prep at quieter times.
- Agency-to-direct migration: some operators moved peak agency hours to part-time direct hire to capture the on-cost differential.
What this means for procurement decisions in 2026-2027
The agency-vs-direct gap has tightened, but agency still wins on flexibility and risk transfer. Operators who valued certainty over absolute lowest cost are net agency users. Operators who can predict shift demand 4+ weeks ahead are net direct-hire users.
See our kitchen porter agency service for current rates.
