JD Sports and Fullers warn of price rises due to Budget

Prices in shops and pubs will rise as a result of tax rises on businesses announced in the Budget, two bosses have warned.
Andy Higginson, chair of JD Sports and the British Retail Consortium, which represents supermarkets, said tax increases from April, including a rise in National Insurance, would lead to a jump in costs for shoppers.
Higher drinks prices could show in as little as six months, added Simon Emeny, the boss of Fullers, which owns about 400 pubs and hotels.
There has been a growing backlash from firms to the higher costs they face from the Budget, but chancellor Rachel Reeves has said âbusinesses will have to absorb some of this through profitsâ.
From April next year, employers will have to pay NI at 15% on salaries above ÂŁ5,000, instead of 13.8% on salaries above ÂŁ9,100 currently.
Minimum wages are also set to rise from April.
On Wednesday, Mr Higginson warned: âIâm guaranteeing you today, if these go through as they are without any sort of feathering, weâre going to see significant inflation in prices.â
He called on the government to âphaseâ in the increases in National Insurance and minimum wages for businesses âover the next two to three yearsâ rather than in April next year.
âWe just need to make sure that the immediate impact of all these things doesnât come in one big lump and that the economy has time to absorb these changes in a way that doesnât fuel inflation,â Mr Higginson told the BBCâs Today programme.
The chancellorâs budget included ÂŁ40bn in total worth of tax rises.
More than half of these will be paid for by employers, with the National Insurance increase set to generate ÂŁ25bn a year.
But there are concerns, the impact will still be felt by working people if firms decide to pass on costs through higher prices and if wage increases are restricted.
âIt doesnât feel like a Budget for working people. It doesnât feel like a Budget for growth. I think it will restrict investment,â said Fullers boss Mr Emeny.
The pub chain boss added that businesses still had not recovered profits fully post-Covid, and that the Budget measures announced cost an âextra ÂŁ3.5bnâ for the hospitality sector.
âThereâs no way a sector like ours can carry this level of cost and just absorb it as profit,â he added.
Mr Emeny said that the combination of NI and minimum wage changes would cost his business an additional ÂŁ8m, although the businesses latest results saw increased sales and profits on its food, drinks and hotels.
In the six months to September, Fullers increased profits before tax by 21% to ÂŁ17.6m compared with the same time last year.
The average price of a pint of draught lager in the UK was ÂŁ4.47 in September, according to the Office for National Statistics, but the British Beer and Pub Association recently revealed that landlords make 12p profit per pint.
One London pub boss has said he will likely raise the price of a pint as much as 40p as a result of the Budget.
Mr Higginson said the Budget created a âworryingâ backdrop for businesses at a time when economic growth is desperately needed.
â[Labour] came to business pre the election with a promise of economic literacy and being pro-growth, and they do need growth â if youâre going to invest in public services⊠you do need to get that growth, and itâs hard to see that the actions so far really match that pro-business rhetoric,â he said.