Some of Britain’s biggest retailers have warned that the proposal to introduce a national living wage could cost them tens of millions of pounds in higher wages and may force up prices.
Next, Wm Morrison, the John Lewis Partnership and Dixons Carphone all said yesterday that they would have to increase their wage bills to meet the proposal at a time when Britain’s high street faced significant challenges.
Lord Wolfson of Aspley Guise, the chief executive of Next, said that the new national living wage could cost it £80 million over the next five years. He also warned that, if productivity levels and real wage growth failed to keep up, the proposal could lead to inflation.
Under George Osborne’s budget proposal, a new minimum wage