M&S boss tells Healey to ‘take the handcuffs off Britain’ weeks before Burnham’s first Budget

The boss of Marks & Spencer has urged the chancellor to “take the handcuffs off business” and reverse Rachel Reeves’ tax rises in the upcoming Budget.

Stuart Machin said John Healey must correct “the mistakes of the last two Budgets” and “restore hope” if he is to get Britain growing again after what he called a series of “disastrous” decisions for business.

Writing in the Daily Mail on Saturday, Mr Machin’s plea comes just weeks before Mr Healey unveils his first Budget as chancellor, and the first under Andy Burnham’s premiership, on 28 October.

He said policy changes including a rise in National Insurance contributions and changes to business rates had landed M&S with £150m of new costs each year, as well as a tax bill of around half a billion pounds.

He also urged the government to firm up a deal with the EU on food and drink, calling it “common sense”.

Mr Machin said: “I’ve never hidden what I thought of the last two Budgets. They were a disaster. Britain needed a plan for growth and got a pile of new taxes and regulations instead.

“I know money is tight. I’m not asking the Chancellor to rip up his fiscal rules. But at the very least, he should start unravelling the mistakes of the last two Budgets.”

In a series of recommendations for Mr Healey’s Budget, he blasted Labour’s rise in National Insurance contributions for businesses for driving up employment costs and fuelling job losses and recruitment freezes.

Ms Reeves increased employers’ NICs from 13.8 per cent to 15 per cent in 2024. She also reduced the threshold at which employers start paying the tax, slashing it from £9,100 per year to £5,000.

Mr Machin urged Mr Healey to reverse the cut to the threshold where employers start paying, saying the decision had left customers paying at the till.

“It hit shops hard, because so many of our jobs are entry–level and part–time, often just a shift or two a week,” he said. “It also hit our suppliers, particularly in farming and food manufacturing, and strict regulations meant most of those costs ended up with retailers.”

He also said the Treasury should U-turn on a “patently ridiculous” upcoming Deposit Return Scheme, which will add 20p to every bottle or can of drink, which can be recouped if the packaging is returned and recycled.

Mr Machin warned changes to the Employment Rights Act should be cautious not to ban Saturday jobs by making them “low hours contracts”, which the government is attempting to crack down on.

A HM Treasury spokesperson said: “We want Britain’s retailers to thrive, and the Chancellor has been clear that the way to tackle cost pressures in the long term is through growth.

“That is why he is focused on creating the conditions for businesses to invest, expand and create jobs in every postcode – and we are already backing firms through business rates cuts, a cap on corporation tax and a £4.3 billion package to help businesses manage costs and keep investing.

“As has always been the case, decisions on tax are a matter for the Chancellor to set out at fiscal events, rather than routinely commenting on rumour, speculation or proposals.”