Bosses delay hiring due to fear of even more tax rises

BATTERED business chiefs are holding off on hiring following the Budget and expect to be clobbered by yet more tax hikes, surveys have revealed.

- By Samuel Norman

Chancellor with red box of shocks

More than two-thirds of bosses believe Chancellor Rachel Reeves is not done with them despite her second round of rises on Wednesday reaping £26bn for the Treasury.

She was also accused of botching business rates reforms, while the gambling industry was hit particularly hard with higher duties.

WPI Strategy and Merlin Strategy’s business confidence barometer, which tracked the post-Budget views of 500 chiefs, found the majority would make fewer hires than planned. One in three directly blamed Wednesday’s fiscal statement.