Shoppers delaying purchases in run-up to budget - Sainsbury's

The boss of Sainsbury’s has urged Rachel Reeves not to fuel inflation with tax rises on retailers and their suppliers, and says shoppers are delaying spending in the lead-up to her budget later this month.

- Sarah Butler

Simon Roberts, the chief executive of the UK’s second biggest supermarket, which also owns Argos and Habitat, said his customers were “going to be cautious on discretionary spending, not least because of uncertainty out there and [household] budgets are tight”.

He said Argos had launched its deals for the Black Friday promotional event earlier than last year to try to tempt out shoppers as it was seeing “some delayed spend” while households waited to see if they would have to pay more tax.

Roberts said it was not clear if food price inflation had peaked, adding: “The inflationary pressures on cost base have been significant this year ... What we don’t want to see [in the budget] is further impacts that may cause further inflation.

“No one wants to see inflation go any higher.”