Sports Direct boss attacks ‘shambolic’ Budget

The chief executive of Sports Direct owner Frasers has blamed Rachel Reeves’s “shambolic” Budget for scaring off shoppers.

Michael Murray said the uncertainty leading up to the Budget hammered consumer confidence, which led to households “battening down the hatches”.

Given the scale of speculation regarding potential tax rises, Mr Murray said he “did not blame” shoppers for cutting back.

It comes after the build-up to the Chancellor’s Budget was dominated by a series of leaks, including a mooted increase in income tax that was later abandoned in favour of a decision to freeze tax thresholds for an additional three years.

Mr Murray said: “It was a shambolic run-up to the Budget, all those kites being flown and pulled down, the headlines all over the place.

“It doesn’t give the consumer confidence, despite there being savings in people’s accounts to go out and spend. It didn’t help that the Budget got pushed back because that elongated the confusion.”

Mr Murray said this was still weighing on shopper confidence, with customers being “very selective” on what they were buying. This meant more people were buying last season’s products or cheaper ranges, rather than the latest designs.

He added: “There’s been a lot of inflation out there and price increases on products.”

It comes amid growing anger from high street bosses over the Budget.

Retail chiefs have accused the Chancellor of failing to deliver on a pledge to support the high street following a shake-up of property taxes.

Ms Reeves previously promised an overhaul of business rates would level the playing field “between the high street and online giants”, hitting warehouses and reducing tax bills for bricks-and-mortar stores.

However, independent stores have warned they expect to pay more under changes, which include amendments to how business rates are calculated.

The Frasers chief said business rates at some of its sites were going up by 100pc, adding: “It just doesn’t seem fair or equitable when there’s no incentive to invest in the high street. They should be offering holidays or rate reductions for investment. There’s none of that.”

He said the Chancellor’s decision to increase the national minimum wage would also push up costs, coming on top of last year’s rise and the changes in National Insurance from last April.

At the Budget, Ms Reeves said minimum wages for 18 to 20-year-olds would increase by 8.5pc from next April, from £10 to £10.85 – more than double the rate of inflation.

Mr Murray said wages had risen by more than 20pc over the past three years, adding: “The market is definitely not growing by 20pc, so it’s becoming very difficult.”

It comes amid growing frustration over a lack of engagement from the Government. Mr Murray said ministers were not “reaching out and consulting, so it’s very difficult to find a forum to give a message to the Government”.

He added: “They don’t seem to include large retailers in any of their discussions.”