Fashion retailer Next has announced a 1% price increase to offset the impact of increased National Insurance Contributions (NICs) for employers. Despite reporting strong Q4 sales and raising its full-year profit outlook, Next anticipates slower sales growth and a smaller profit increase in the next financial year. The company cited rising costs and the minimum wage increase as contributing factors.
A HIGH street fashion giant has warned that prices will rise as a result of Rachel Reeves' tax raid.As a result, the retailer said it will need to push through an "unwelcome" 1% rise in prices as part of efforts to offset the hit.It came as the firm reported a better than expected 5.7% rise in underlying full-price sales for its fourth quarter so far, and upped its full-year pre-tax profit outlook once again, pencilling in a 10% jump to £1.01 billion.
"Overall, the UK retail sector sits between a rock and a hard place. Costs are going up, margins are likely to come down and consumers face an inflationary squeeze.THE Centre for Retail Research has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year. It said its latest analysis showed that a total of 169,395 retail jobs were lost in the 2024 calendar year to date.It is the highest annual reading since more than 200,000 jobs were lost in 2020 in the aftermath of the COVID-19Around a third of all retail job losses in 2024, 33% or 55,914 in total, resulted from administrations.
The group, which also owns brands including Toby Carvery, said higher wage expenses are "by far the most significant increase" in its cost base following moves announced in the Autumn Budget. The boss of the postal service said hiking fees — just a month after the latest rise — was a possibility as it faces an enormous burden of extra costs.
Inflation Retail Prices National Insurance Minimum Wage
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