The boss of Lidl has said retailers are “reeling” from autumn Budget tax increases, which he said will add to inflationary pressures at the grocery giant.
Ryan McDonnell, Lidl GB chief executive, said the discount supermarket chain is expecting to face “tens of millions of pounds” in extra costs as a result of a raft of changes launched by Chancellor Rachel Reeves last month.
Ms Reeves revealed a £25.7 billion change to employers’ national insurance contributions (NICs) in the Budget, which would increase the rate of the tax and reduce the threshold at which firms must pay.
Retail businesses will also come under pressure from other policy changes, including packaging levies and increases to the national minimum wage.
Lidl was among major retailers – also including Tesco, Asda and M&S – who warned the Chancellor that jobs will be cut and prices will have to rise as a result of the impact.
Mr McDonnell said: “There is a lot of impact that we will have to negotiate and I think the letter shows that the industry is reeling a lot.
“We are talking about £7 billion for the whole industry. For us it will be somewhere in the tens of millions.”
He said that the jump in costs will result in “greater inflationary pressures” but stressed that it will “maintain market-leading pricing”.
Ryan McDonnell, Lidl GB chief executive, said the discount supermarket chain is expecting to face “tens of millions of pounds” in extra costs as a result of a raft of changes launched by Chancellor Rachel Reeves last month.
Ms Reeves revealed a £25.7 billion change to employers’ national insurance contributions (NICs) in the Budget, which would increase the rate of the tax and reduce the threshold at which firms must pay.
Retail businesses will also come under pressure from other policy changes, including packaging levies and increases to the national minimum wage.
Lidl was among major retailers – also including Tesco, Asda and M&S – who warned the Chancellor that jobs will be cut and prices will have to rise as a result of the impact.
Mr McDonnell said: “There is a lot of impact that we will have to negotiate and I think the letter shows that the industry is reeling a lot.
“We are talking about £7 billion for the whole industry. For us it will be somewhere in the tens of millions.”
He said that the jump in costs will result in “greater inflationary pressures” but stressed that it will “maintain market-leading pricing”.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Another day, another business hitting out at Rachel Reeves' budget. This time it's Lidl.
00:07Their boss, their chief executives, come out and said the supermarket is expected to face tens of millions in extra costs as a result of the measures announced by the Chancellor.
00:16Lidl's among a group of retailers, the likes of Asda, Tesco, M&S, who have written a joint letter to say, collectively,
00:25they're facing around £7 billion of extra costs as a result of the measures in the budget, which they say will be passed on, at least in part, to consumers.
00:35For their part, Labour are saying they did what they had to do, standing by what they did and claiming that it was due to the state of the economy left by the Tories.
00:43However, it's clear this issue isn't going away.
00:47Businesses are getting angrier as they work out exactly what the measures mean for their bottom lines.