Prices in shops and pubs will rise as a result of business tax rises announced in the Budget, two bosses have warned.

Andy Higginson, chairman of JD Sports and the British Retail Consortium, which represents the supermarkets, said April’s tax rises, including a rise in National Insurance, would lead to higher costs for shoppers.

Higher drink prices could appear in at least six months, added Simon Emeny, boss of Fullers, which owns around 400 pubs and hotels.

There has been a growing backlash from businesses to the higher costs for them in the Budget, but chancellor Rachel Reeves said “business will have to absorb some of this through profits.

From next April, employers will have to pay 15% NI on wages over £5,000, instead of 13.8% on wages over £9,100 currently.

Minimum wages are also set to rise from April.

On Wednesday, Mr Higginson warned: “I guarantee you today, if these go through as they are, without any feathers, we will see significant price inflation.”

He called on the government to “pass through” increases in national insurance and the minimum wage for businesses “over the next two to three years” rather than next April.

“We just need to make sure that the immediate impact of all this doesn’t come in one piece and that the economy has time to absorb these changes in a way that doesn’t fuel inflation,” Higginson told BBC Today. program.

The chancellor’s budget included £40 billion in total tax rises.

More than half of this will be paid by employers, and the increase in National Insurance will generate £25 billion a year.

But there are concerns the impact will still be felt by working people if firms decide to pass on costs through higher prices and if wage rises are restricted.

“It doesn’t feel like a budget for working people. It doesn’t feel like a budget for growth. I think it will restrict investment,” Fullers boss Mr Emeny said.

The pub chain boss added that businesses had yet to fully recover post-Covid profits and that the announced budget measures had cost the hospitality sector an “extra £3.5bn”.

“There is no way a sector like ours can sustain this level of cost and just absorb it as profit,” he added.

The average price of a pint of lager in Britain was £4.47 in September, according to the Office for National Statistics, but the British Beer and Pub Association recently revealed that owners are making a profit of 12p per pint.

A London pub boss said he probably would increase the price of a pint by up to 40p as a result of the budget.

Mr Higginson said the Budget created a “worrying” backdrop for business at a time when economic growth was desperately needed.

“(Labour) came into business before the election with a promise of economic literacy and being pro-growth, and they need growth – if you’re going to invest in public services … you’ve got to get that growth and it’s hard. to see that the actions so far really match that pro-business rhetoric,” he said.