The boss of one of Britain’s top retailers has said Labour ‘couldn’t run a bath’ as business braces for further tax hikes at the Budget.
John Roberts, founder and chief executive of online electricals seller AO World, blasted Labour for ‘a lack of conviction, a lack of courage and a lack of capability’ as he said higher costs have made him move jobs abroad.
Roberts said Labour’s business policies were ‘great for recruitment in South Africa’, where his company has moved 100 roles in the past year due to increases in wages and National Insurance payments.
He became the latest major employer to cast doubt over Labour’s pledge to boost growth as retailers warn higher costs are hitting hiring and prices.
Roberts, a self-made millionaire who started his career as a kitchen salesman and went on to found his FTSE 250 group, said the Cabinet ‘couldn’t run a bath let alone a business.’
‘They have no business experience or appreciation in this government,’ he said.
AO World boss John Roberts slammed the Government’s business policies ahead of the Budget
Roberts was the latest retail boss to sound the alarm ahead of expected increases to taxes on Wednesday including the business rates paid on commercial properties.
Retailers have struggled in the wake of last year’s Budget, when Rachel Reeves hit shopkeepers with a total of £7billion in extra annual costs.
The chief executive also dubbed Labour’s workers’ rights bill ‘madness’.
And summing up his assessment of Labour’s handling of the economy, he said: ‘The operation has been a complete success: the patient is firmly dead on the table.’
Labour is proposing to introduce a slew of new rules that have been criticised by the retail and hospitality industries that rely on seasonable and flexible work.
This includes granting employees a host of ‘day one’ rights that kick in on their first day of employment, as well as offering workers a number of minimum guaranteed hours.
‘The last thing business needs is a load more cost, complexity and removal of flexibility,’ he said.
And a cocktail of new regulations and high costs would exacerbate growing levels of youth unemployment, he said.
The Government has been accused by big bosses of being anti-business in its tax policies
‘If you think back, hospitality and retail would be two of the biggest areas for young people to get a start in their careers and a start in work experience, and all they’re doing is making that more difficult,’ Roberts said.
He also said the Government should slash welfare spending instead of increasing business taxes, describing speculated proposals to scrap the two-child benefit cap as ‘madness’.
He said: ‘Business is a force for good in the economy. It gets demonised in this Government and all it’s seen as is a source of more and more tax that they can then blow on the welfare budget.’
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