Retailers deserve a break – but they shouldn’t look to the chancellor for one

79 firms signed a letter to the chancellor voicing their “significant concerns’ over the sheer scale’ of budget measures that, they say, will push up their industry’s costs by 7bn next year .

The chancellor has already told firms how to deal with the rise in employer national insurance contributions (NICs), the most contentious measure and one that comprises 2.33bn of the 7bn .