The owner of British Airways has joined a succession of London-listed companies to sound the alarm over the impact of the budget, as the declared cost to businesses tops half a billion pounds.
International Airlines Group expects the “direct hit” from the rise to national insurance imposed on employers to add between €25 million and €30 million to its annual costs.
Lord Rose of Monewden, chairman of Asda, said the changes were “unhelpful” and had “hit business hard”. He said the supermarket chain would do “all it could” to absorb the expected £100 million increase to its annual tax bill but predicted that “it’s going to be inflationary to a degree”.
Serco, the outsourcer that collects Britain’s bins and transports prisoners, expects the changes announced