Chancellor

Tesco to face £1bn increase to NI bill following Labour’s Budget

Tesco is expecting to see an increase of £1bn in its national insurance bill over the next four years following Labour’s Autumn budget, according to the Times. The chancellor Rachel Reeves has increased Employers’ National Insurance contributions in a bid to help raise as much as £40bn in taxes, pledging…

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Sainsbury’s CEO warns NI contributions will cause spike in prices

Sainsbury’s CEO Simon Roberts has warned that the rise in employer’s national insurance contributions announced in the Autumn Budget will cost the supermarket £140m, Sky News has reported. Roberts said that the rise of NI would cause inflation to be higher than originally predicted and that Sainsbury’s won’t have the…

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Retail sales see weak growth in October amid pre-budget uncertainty

Total retail sales in the UK nudged up by only 0.6% in October, compared with a growth of 2.6% in October 2023, as retail was hit by ongoing uncertainty surrounding the autumn budget, the BRC has reported. The BRC also attributed this slowdown to the fact that the October half-term…

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Today’s news in brief-31/10/24

The UK retail industry has raised concerns following Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Autumn Budget, which aims to generate £40bn through measures like a rise in employers’ National Insurance to 15% and hikes in minimum wage rates. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has warned that the new measures, which will add over…

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Budget reaction: Retail warns that higher costs will hamper investment

The retail industry has warned that increased costs following the Autumn Budget may hit businesses hard, with retailers facing higher costs amid new measures that come into place next April, with some warning the sector will face over £2.5bn in new costs in 2025.Yesterday, chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a series…

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Budget: Increases to employers’ NI and minimum wage

The chancellor Rachel Reeves has increased Employers’ National Insurance contributions in a bid to help raise as much as £40bn in taxes, pledging to also boost long-term growth and “mark an end to short term-ism” as part of Labour’s first budget since it came into power. Employers’ national insurance contributions…

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Today’s news in brief-29/10/24

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has urged the chancellor to prioritise keeping prices low as shop price deflation reached 0.8% in October, marking its lowest rate since August 2021. Food inflation also eased, with fresh food and ambient food prices falling. BRC’s CEO Helen Dickinson stressed that although this trend…

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BRC calls for chancellor to keep prices low

The BRC has called on the chancellor to keep prices low ahead of the budget as shop price growth hit its lowest rate in over three years. Shop Price deflation was at 0.8% in October, down from deflation of 0.6% in the previous month. This is below the three-month average…

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Today’s news in brief-23/10/24

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is reportedly considering imposing higher taxes on Amazon as part of a broader effort to support British high streets, which have been struggling to compete with online giants. The proposed measures could come after her upcoming autumn budget, which is expected to introduce tax hikes and spending…

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M&S boss calls tax rises ‘the easy way out’ ahead of budget

M&S CEO Stuart Machin has accused chancellor Rachel Reeves of “taking the easy way out” amid reports she is considering a slew of tax increases in the budget. In an open letter written in The Times, Machin stated that he hoped reports of an increase in employer national insurance contributions…

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