Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed employers’ national insurance contributions will go up by 1.2 per cent to 15 per cent, from April 2025 with a lower starting threshold.
The minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour next year and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40.
James Talbot, who owns HARE Group with three salons in Oxfordshire, including one in Witney, said the news has left him ‘increasingly anxious’.
He said: “This will impact our business and hinder growth by limiting our ability to hire young talent and invest in their education and apprenticeships. We currently have a team of 11, including five members under 21.”
He added: “This environment prevents us from raising prices to cover increased overheads. How is that?”
Admiral Taverns, owners of The Three Horseshoes in Witney, said they welcomed the cut to draught beer duty for pubs and short extension to the small business rates relief at a lower level.
But they said costs keep on rising and “we are disappointed with the lack of meaningful long-term support”.
CEO Chris Jowsey said: “Community pubs remain massively overtaxed and with the wider alcohol duty still increasing, the cost of doing business is only rising for our publicans.
“Unfortunately, the cumulative impact of these measures will cost us significantly.
“Given we will still see business rates double for a lot of pubs, it is even more important now that the Government uses the next two years to implement a proper reform of the business rates system which is fairer for pubs, an industry who is one of the most heavily taxed business sectors.
“This will ensure the longevity of the much-loved institution, as well as the many communities, jobs and livelihoods which rely on it.”
Meanwhile Witney’s Lib Dem MP Charlie Maynard called for crucial health and care services to be exempted from the NI hike – or risk them shutting up shop.
Mr Maynard and fellow Liberal Democrat MPs Layla Moran, Freddie van Mierlo, Calum Miller and Olly Glover said: “When we speak to GPs and care providers in Oxfordshire, they tell us about the immense pressure they’re under after years of Conservative mismanagement.
“The Chancellor’s decisions in the Budget risk pushing these crucial services to the brink – some could even be forced to shut up shop.
“People must be able to access decent health and care services. To deliver this, the government must change course and exempt GPs and care providers here in Oxfordshire from the tax hike.”
Defending her budget Ms Reeves said increasing the rate of employers’ national insurance was “a difficult choice. I do not take this decision lightly”.
She has claimed the scale of the public spending problems she inherited were worse than previously thought and said the Budget as a whole will “restore stability to our country” and “protect working people”.