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The High Street is braced for a bleak Christmas as shoppers worried about tax rises in the Budget delay their spending, industry experts have warned. Store chains and independent shopkeepers said the timing of the Budget in late November – just ahead of Black Friday – could severely disrupt the crucial festive period. And retail chiefs warned companies are putting off hiring and investment decisions because they will not find out their likely business rates bill until then. The late Budget threatens to snuff out a recovery on the High Street over the summer, with demand for gold and the new iPhone 17 boosting business in September. Andrew Goodacre, chief executive of the British Independent Retailers Association, said: 'The timing of this year's Budget could not be worse. By leaving it till late November, the Chancellor is disrupting the most important trading period of the year for retailers. 'We are already seeing feverish speculation about tax increases and the fact that it will be a tough Budget. This speculation creates uncertainty, which in turn dampens consumer confidence and spending. It is another sign of this Government being insensitive to the needs of independent retailers.' Having already been hit with higher National Insurance bills and an inflation-busting increase in the minimum wage, store chains are desperate for some respite on business rates. Rachel Reeves has promised to reform the system to make it fairer – but may not announce her plans until the Budget on November 26. Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: 'Retailers need certainty about their future business rates liabilities so that they can make investment decisions affecting jobs and stores; the late timing of the Budget has made this more difficult.' Fleur Lewis, a partner at accountancy group Bishop Fleming, said: 'For a sector that depends on consumer confidence and seasonal spending, a late-November Budget injects fresh uncertainty at the worst possible time.
