"As a small business owner you want to believe in this. But the independent brewer has seen costs rise because of last year's employer national insurance hike, while a more recent tax increase on non-draught alcohol has put his trade in a continual squeeze."
"[Reeves] talked about real wage growth and falling inflation, he added. The image that she painted is somewhat different to the one that I see. Business rates remain a big problem for pubs, he said, despite a support package in January designed to lessen the impacts of a rates shakeup."
Chancellor Rachel Reeves presented a deliberately subdued spring forecast aimed at projecting stability amid international volatility and following multiple tax-raising budgets. Business owners expressed disappointment at the lack of substantive policy announcements. Changes to the business rates system proceed on 1 April with limited relief for companies still managing increased employment costs from the previous year. The defence investment plan remained unclear despite being a key spending commitment. Independent brewery and pub owner Anthony Hughes highlighted the disconnect between Reeves's optimistic economic forecasts and the reality facing businesses, citing rising employer national insurance contributions, alcohol taxes, declining footfall, and reduced consumer disposable income as ongoing pressures.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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