One of Britain’s most respected retail bosses today hit out at what he described as the “extraordinarily penal” increases in National Insurance costs for many employers.
Lord Mark Price, who was managing director of Waitrose from 2006 to 2016, and also served as a Tory trade minister from 2016 to 2017, made his comments at the ICAS CA Summit in central London.
The Conservative peer said in a panel discussion that the new Labour government had “quickly eroded a lot of trust” of UK businesses.
He said: “We’ve got into a position now through the Budget where I think a lot of businesses feel that they’ve been let down, what they heard before is not what they’re getting. I think the changes in national insurance are going to be extraordinarily penal. They are going to result in job losses and higher prices.”
The comments came as bosses at the CBI conference in central London also criticised the impact of the Budget measures unveiled last month by Rachel Reeves.
The boss of McVitie’s bakery products’ parent firm Pladis has said it is getting “harder to understand” the case for investing in the UK amid too much Government focus on new industries at the expense of existing ones.
Salman Amin said: “Historically, we’ve been super bullish on the United Kingdom.
“In fact, by far our greatest investment across all of our countries over the last decade or so has come to the UK.”
I think we can all sign up to the Government’s mission to grow the UK economy, renew the country’s competitiveness and unlock investment. After all, what business leader wouldn’t? The big question is how – and this is where I have a concern
He added: “Going forward, it’s becoming harder to understand what the case for investment is.
“Small amounts one can understand, but the quantums that I think we need to make a difference in the growth rate of the economy are in the order of tens of millions every year.
“In the last couple of years, it’s just become a lot harder to really see how does that play out.”
Labour has made economic growth a key part of its pitch in Government, but Mr Amin warned that there is too much focus on new industries like green energy and not enough on manufacturing or food and drink.
Companies have already warned that they will face a £7 billion jump in their costs because of a raft of policy measures from the Chancellor’s Budget at the end of October.
Earlier this month, the boss of Associated British Foods, which owns Primark alongside food and sugar brands, said it was preparing for a big jump in business costs.
Meanwhile, retailers including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer signed a letter to Rachel Reeves warning that job losses were “inevitable” and prices would increase, because of a number of policy measures including a rise in business taxes.
Mr Amin continued: “I think we can all sign up to the Government’s mission to grow the UK economy, renew the country’s competitiveness and unlock investment.
“After all, what business leader wouldn’t? The big question is how – and this is where I have a concern.
“What strikes me is that in the race to grow, we seem to be turning our backs on the industries which have built Britain for decades.
“You only have to look at the list of sectors featured in the Government’s industrial strategy to see this.
“There’s plenty of mention of aerospace, tech and green energy but you’d be hard pressed to find a substantive reference to food and drink. In my view, that’s a glaring omission.
He added: “Economic momentum will come when we build a genuinely inclusive industrial strategy.
“A strategy which embraces emerging sectors and, crucially, celebrates those in which Britain is already a leader – such as food and drink.”
