Independent food retailers were focusing on processes, prices and productivity in March as they braced for a triple tax thump in April.
Employer national insurance contributions jump from 13.8% to 15% this month, while the earnings threshold at which these kick in is slashed from £9,100 to £5,000 per employee.
All levels of minimum wage rise in April, with anyone aged 21 or older costing employers at least £12.21 an hour, and 18-20 year-olds due £10 an hour.
Meanwhile the retail, hospitality and leisure Business Rates Relief Scheme drops from 75% to 40%, meaning many companies will see their bill more than double.
The British Independent Retailers Association (BIRA) said many owners were shutting up shop rather than face the financial triple-whammy.
Chief executive Andrew Goodacre described a “deeply concerning trend of pre-emptive closures”.
“Shop owners are doing the maths and many are concluding that continuing simply isn’t viable,” he warned.
Daniel Williams, project manager at Godfrey C. Williams & Son, said the Cheshire deli had spoken to its local MP about the tax hikes. He said they came as many raw produce costs were also rising.
“We are mitigating through prices on some orders as they come in for April,” said Williams. “I worry about the impact not just on us but on small producers.
“We are looking at taking on new positions requiring quite a bit of responsibility but we will have to be more picky. We are willing to pay the right price for someone but need to make sure they have the experience and know-how.”
Stefano Cuomo, chief executive of Macknade, said the Kent food hall would look closely at hiring plans in the wake of cost hikes.
“We will take a view on whether to recruit to roles we might have been thinking of,” he said.
“We will put more effort into hiring correctly, and onboarding. There is an element of being clear about what we are recruiting for and spending time to get the right person.”
Cuomo said productivity would also come into focus across the industry.
“This will sharpen all of us to look at profit and loss more closely – more training, more engagement. Digitalisation.”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves defended employment cost hikes at last autumn’s Budget. “We are asking business to contribute more,” she conceded. “But in the circumstances that I have inherited, it is the right choice to make.”
This article first appeared in the April 2025 issue of Fine Food Digest.
