Salaries and CPI
The government are suggesting that businesses should be giving pay rises if they want to keep skilled people and be attractive places to work. And they may well be right. It is fast becoming an employee's market and even with the best of working environments, if the message you give through the pay packet is that they aren't valued, employees may walk.
But you don't have to do much - CPI for the year to 31 December 2013 rose 1.6%; and for the preceding two years was 1.9% and 1.0%. So even if you have held salaries for 3 years, an increase of 5% will be better than inflation.