Wetherspoons boss issues horror warning over Rachel Reeves' tax hikes

Wetherspoons boss Sir Tim Martin warned that Rachel Reeves' tax hikes will exacerbate inflation and hit businesses like his. He expressed fears that the Chancellor will target the hospitality industry again in her Autumn Budget. Sir Tim pointed to the increase in employers' National Insurance Contributions and recycling levies as measures that "undoubtedly add to underlying inflation in the UK economy".

The chairman said inflation was "umbilically linked to cost increases" and tax increases "always result in price increases for consumers". Despite this, he maintained that his company would "endeavour to keep price increases to a minimum". He told The Telegraph: "Individual companies might try and keep prices the same, but these decisions are only a temporary respite."

This comes as Wetherspoons tackles a £60 million annual bill from miniumum wage and National Insurance changes, and £2.4 million from the recycling levy.

It's also been hit with £7 million in "stealth taxes" amid the push to move Britain towards renewable energy, and said these bills were being used to fund nuclear power stations and subsidise other industries.

Sir Tim added: "It is clearly high time for the UK to engage in a proper debate on these vexed issues, rather than the current tit for tat political discourse, financed, inadequately and temporarily, by huge stealth taxes."

This month, Wetherspoons increased the price of a drink by 10p and a meal deal, which includes a drink, by 20p.

Despite this, the company reported revenues of £2.13 billion for the year to July 27 - 4.5% higher than the year before.

Sales on a like-for-like basis - which strips out the impact of pub openings and closures - rose by 5.1%.

It ran 794 pubs at the end of the financial year and plans to open 15 managed pubs and 15 franchised pubs in the year ahead.