BBCBusinesses in the West are worried about a national insurance hike ahead of the Labour government’s first budget.
The BBC spoke to community members in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, including Shahram Navard, owner of Ye Old Fish chip shop in Gloucester.
He said they’re already finding trade difficult and worries the budget will only makes things worse.
Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves will set out her spending plans on Wednesday, a budget the Prime Minister has already warned will be ‘painful.’
Mr Navard said: “Increasing the national insurance contribution, you’re hiring less, less wages.
“It will squeeze us as a small business – we need to cut jobs, we need to cut the portions.”
Adrian Ball, owner of Kara Hairdressers in the city, said the budget will really hit the employer.
He said: “For national insurance going up for the employer, pension contributions going up, it’s more costs to us which you know we struggle with.”
In Swindon, the Walking Netballer’s club are convinced pensioners will be adversely affected.
Chris Geddes, 62, who is retired, said: “For me it’s the pensions and people not receiving the winter fuel.
“I don’t believe the £300 is going to make a huge difference with this black hole and I think that pensions are an easy target.”
Colette James, 67, a finance administrator, said even though pensions have “gone up”, personal allowances haven’t.
“They’ve given us more money as a state pension but actually most people will end up paying a lot of tax,” she said.
Former teacher Nicki Sellars said she wants to see special provision in school “funded properly from the earliest opportunity”.
She said: “Schools and families work so hard for their children and they’re struggling against a system that seems to be fighting against them.”