UK 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, reports Reuters. The group 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 19 November.

Last week, supermarkets Tesco and Sainsbury’s both announced plans to hire temporary workers for the UK’s upcoming end-of-year holiday season. Tesco plans to hire 30,000 temporary colleagues while Sainsbury’s plans to hire 22,000. Earlier this month it was also reported that supermarket Aldi is hiring 3,000 permanent and temporary workers for the holiday season, while Morrisons is planning to hire 3,500 across the UK.