Pay rise will cost small businesses

Hearing that Sajid Javid has promised a bumper pay rise to the nation’s lowest paid by increasing the hourly rate to £10.50 by 2024 means that four million people will benefit. He has also vowed to lower the minimum wage age from 25 to 21.

This is all well and good for the employee but I wonder how small businesses will cope with having to find an extra £2.29 per hour or a huge amount of £91.60 per week based on an employee working a forty hour week.

This is a huge amount for any employer to have to find and in my opinion the only way forward will be for tradesmen to increase their charging rates and for retail businesses to increase their prices on goods they sell which in turn will also increase the amount of VAT chargeable.

Many small firms could ultimately go out of business  as it is a knock on effect.

I personally think it is a double whammy.

Of a further unprecedented cost increase.

Think Tank boss Torsten Bell said a move like this will ultimately take Britain to the top of the minimum wage league.

That is all well and good but I ask myself at what cost?

LM Jackson