Here is a round-up of the measures announced that will impact the sector.
Business rates
The current 75% business rates relief discount will end on 30 March 2025. From 1 April, the relief on bills will be 40%, up to a £110,000 cash cap.
Permanently lower business rates multipliers will be introduced in 2026/2027 for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses.
Read more here.
National insurance
The rate of employer national insurance contributions will increase from 13.8% to 15% (up 1.2 percentage points).
Moreover, the per-employee threshold that employers start to pay national insurance has been cut by 45%, from £9,100 to £5,000 a year.
This will apply from 6 April 2025.
See more about it here.
Wages
The Government accepted the Low Pay Commission’s recommendation meaning national living wage (for those aged 21 and over) will increase by 6.7% from April 2025 to £21.21 from £11.44 an hour.
The national minimum wage (for those aged 18 to 20) will also rise by 16% from £8.60 to £10 an hour, again from April 2025.
The move is a step towards the Government’s aim for a single adult wage rate, which will take place over time.
Furthermore, wage rates for under 18s will rise by 18% - up from £6.40 to £7.55 from April next year. This is the same for apprentice wage rates.
This was first reported ahead of the Budget, see here for more.
Alcohol duty
Alcohol tax on draught products will be reduced by 1.7% in cash terms. It will increase the value of the draught relief duty differential from 9.2% to 13.9% for qualifying beer and cider products.
This is also the case for qualifying wine, spirits and other fermented products increasing the value of draught relief duty from 23% to 26.9%.
Alcohol duty on non-draught products will increase in line with retail price index inflation.
The changes will come into force from 1 February 2025.
See more here.
