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Latest NewsEconomics, government & businessInflationJob creation and lossesLabour market

Retailers warn chancellor of £7bn budget burden

by Kavitha Sivasubramaniam 19 Nov 2024
by Kavitha Sivasubramaniam 19 Nov 2024 Shutterstock / Mareks Perkons
Shutterstock / Mareks Perkons

Retailers have written to the chancellor warning of the dire impact of the £7bn in extra costs they face next year as a result of the budget.

Some of the UK’s biggest outlets, including Amazon UK, Tesco, Next and Asda, say the “cumulative burden” of the measures announced by Rachel Reeves in October would be damaging for employment, inflation and the economy in general.

In their message, the 79 signatories of the British Retail Consortium’s letter claim job losses, price rises and shop closures will be inevitable as they grapple with higher employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) and national living wage increases.

The letter states: “We appreciate government’s focus on improving the fiscal situation and investing in public services; we also recognise the role businesses have in supporting this. But, the sheer scale of new costs and the speed with which they occur create a cumulative burden that will make job losses inevitable, and higher prices a certainty.”

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Other names on the list of signatories included the bosses of Marks and Spencer, Boots, Currys, Lidl, JD Sports, Greggs, Primark, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s, as well as charity shops and the trade group Associated Independent Stores.

The group says “the impact of the budget NIC threshold change is particularly acute given retail employs large numbers of people in entry-level and part-time roles”.

According to the BRC, it would “welcome the opportunity” for a meeting with Reeves, in which it would recommend certain changes to measures announced in the budget, such as the phasing in of the NI lower earnings threshold.

The letter added: “By adjusting the timings of some of these changes, the government would give businesses time to adjust and greatly mitigate their harmful effects on high streets and consumers.”

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Kavitha Sivasubramaniam

Kavitha Sivasubramaniam is an experienced journalist, editor and communications professional who has been working in B2B publishing for more than 17 years. After graduating from Bournemouth University with a degree in Multi Media Journalism, Kavitha started her career in local and regional newspapers, before moving to consumer magazines and later trade titles, as well as PR. Specialising in pay and reward, she has been editor of a number of HR publications including Pay & Benefits, Employee Benefits, Benefits Expert, Reward and CIPP’s membership magazine, Professional. In June 2024, she won Pay, Reward and Employee Benefits Journalist of the Year at the Willis Towers Watson media awards. She was also named one of Each Person’s top 20 influential HR bloggers and managed a highly commended content team of the year in 2019.

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