Next boss hits out at ‘employment taxes’

THE boss of Next has slammed the government’s crackdown on zero-hour contracts and called on Labour to unwind its “employment taxes”.

- FELIX ARMSTRONG

Lord Wolfson, chief executive of the FTSE 100 retailer, said the government's plans to force employers to offer guaranteed hours to those on flexible contracts will make it “much harder” for Next to offer more hours to its staff.

The new rules would require bosses to offer a fixed contract with guaranteed hours to qualifying workers, but Wolfson said these requirements are difficult because “the risk is you then have to contract for those hours forever”.

He added: “You can’t afford to [...] have the same number of people in your shop in February as you have in and around Christmas.