John Lewis ‘worried’ about increase in National Minimum Wage
Retail leaders have warned that the new measures will make ‘job losses inevitable and higher prices unavoidable’
John Lewis has told the Telegraph that it is “worried” about the impact of Rachel Reeve’s decision to increase the National Minimum Wage.
As part of the budget, the chancellor confirmed that the National Minimum Wage for 18 to 20-year-olds will rise 16.8% from £8.60 to £10, while pay for apprentices will rise from £6.40 to £7.55 an hour.
Following this announcement, a senior John Lewis director warned that inflated labour costs are weighing on the store, while the head of distribution John Munnelly stated that given the company has around 85,500 workers he is concerned about the wage changes.
Munnelly said: “…Everybody out there is worried about the National Minimum Wage and the Real Living Wage and being able to accommodate that.”
Additionally, Naomi Simcock, operations director at John Lewis told the Telegraph: “This is additional pressure in a market which is quite challenging at the moment.”
Retail leaders have warned that the new measures will make “job losses inevitable and higher prices unavoidable.”
In a recent draft letter, the BRC also said: “The sheer scale of new costs in the Autumn Budget and the speed with which they occur, together with costs from a raft of other regulation, create a cumulative burden that will make job losses inevitable, and higher prices a certainty..
“The estimated industry cost of the National Living Wage uplift is £2.7bn, and business rates bills will increase by £140m in April 2025, reflecting September’s rate of inflation, and businesses receiving the RHL discount will see this reduce from 75% to 40%.”
