Senior figures from the retail and hospitality sectors, including executives from Tesco, Costa Coffee and the Co-op, held talks with Chancellor John Healey on Tuesday to press for changes to make hiring young people cheaper.
The meeting at No 11 Downing Street brought together sector leaders such as Marks & Spencer chief executive Stuart Machin and Sainsbury’s boss Simon Roberts, who outlined concerns about recent increases in employers’ national insurance contributions (NICs).
Attendees urged the chancellor to act in his first budget to reduce the cost of employing young people, proposing adjustments to the national insurance contributions threshold as a way to ease labour costs for firms that are heavily reliant on younger staff.
Executives told Healey that the rise in employers’ NICs had placed additional pressure on their businesses and on recruitment decisions. The sector delegation stressed the need for government intervention in the upcoming budget to address those cost pressures.
The outreach highlights the retail and hospitality industries’ efforts to influence fiscal policy ahead of the chancellor’s first budget, as firms look for measures that could lower labour costs and support hiring among younger workers.