79 stores including Tesco, Aldi, Boots issue joint warning over 'harmful' shake up

Tesco, Aldi and Boots are among DOZENS of shops warning of mass closures and job losses. Large UK retailers including Tesco, Boots, Marks & Spencer and Next have written to Rachel Reeves to say that a £7bn increase in annual costs after last month’s budget would lead to job cuts and higher prices.

The letter, with 79 signatories sent by the industry body the British Retail Consortium (BRC), warns the chancellor of the financial impact of the impending increase in the national living wage and employer national insurance contributions (NICs).

Other businesses to sign the damning letter include Amazon, Lidl, Ocado, Morrisons, Greggs, Currys, B&Q, Burberry, JD Sports, Holland & Barrett, Oliver Bonas and Specsavers. The retailers blasted the Budget as having a "harmful effect" on both their customers and the vitality of high streets.

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The letter says: “For any retailer, large or small, it will not be possible to absorb such significant cost increases over such a short timescale. The effect will be to increase inflation, slow pay growth, cause shop closures and reduce jobs, especially at the entry level.

“This will impact high streets and customers right across the country. We are already starting to take difficult decisions in our businesses and this will be true across the whole industry and our supply chain.” The letter adds: “We appreciate government’s focus on improving the fiscal situation and investing in public services; we also recognise the role businesses have in supporting this.

"But, the sheer scale of new costs and the speed with which they occur create a cumulative burden that will make job losses inevitable, and higher prices a certainty.” A spokesman for the Treasury said: “With our public services crumbling and an inherited £22 billion fiscal black hole from the previous government, we had to make difficult choices to fix the foundations of the country and restore desperately needed economic stability to allow businesses to thrive.

“By doing this, more than half of employers will either see a cut or no change in their national insurance bills, there will be £22.6 billion more for the NHS and workers’ payslips will be protected from higher tax. This government is committed to delivering economic growth by boosting investment and rebuilding Britain.”