Retail bosses gifted excuse for when things go wrong

It’s not just British farmers who are hacked off by the latest Budget some of the biggest names in retail have now joined forces to send one of those angry, multi-signature letters to the chancellor, scolding her for the imminent tax hikes coming their way.

- JAMES MOORE

It’s not just British farmers who are hacked off by the latest Budget – some of the biggest names in retail have now joined forces to send one of those angry, multi-signature letters to the chancellor, scolding her for the imminent tax hikes coming their way.

Represented by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) trade body, practically everyone who is anyone has signed it – including Sainsbury’s CEO Simon Roberts, John Lewis’s Nish Kankiwala and Currys boss Alex Baldock. It also includes the UK heads of international chains, like Aldi, Lidl and Amazon.

So what is their problem, exactly? Beyond expressing their “significant concerns” about the long-term impact on their industry, they also highlight how such increases will have a knock-on effect on regular people.

“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,” it reads. (Translation: when the shit hits the fan – as it inevitably will – we’re going to deny all responsibility and blame you, Rachel Reeves.)

Still, for the most part, they are playing nice. They have requested a meeting and a “phasing in” process for the lower threshold at which employer national insurance contributions (NICs) kick in, signalling they are somewhat open to compromise.