By Chancellor Rachel Reeves,Jon Robinson

Copyright cityam

The tax hikes introduced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in her Autumn Budget are “a real setback” and will be “incredibly damaging”, one of the UK’s biggest family-owned breweries has warned.

Robinsons Brewery, which has been in business in Stockport for more than 180 years, has issued a warning that 2025 will be “a much more challenging year” than its record 2024 as a result of the changes introduced in April.

The brewer cited the increases to employers’ National Insurance, the national minimum wage and the reduction in business rates relief as major factors which will drag down its financial performance this year.

Robinsons Brewery also said the changes to business property relief will have a long-term impact on the family business and said the policy will damage “business investment and consequently the economy”.

The firm, which runs hundreds of pubs and hotels across the North West, made the comments in new accounts filed with Companies House which show that the brewery’s turnover increased to a record £97.7m in 2024 – up from £92.3m.

The results also show that its pre-tax profit rose over the same period from £5.1m to £6.7m.

Reeves’ tax hikes to have ‘long-term’ impact

A statement signed off by the board said: “Notwithstanding the strong performance in 2024, 2025 promises to be a much more challenging year as a result of the changes to employers’ National Insurance, minimum living wage and the 35 per cent reduction in business rates relief introduced by the Chancellor in her Autumn Budget in addition to the new extended producer regulations which will impact our profits severely.

“This is a real setback for the business and our pub partners’ businesses following our recovery from the pandemic.

“As a family business, we are also impacted by the changes announced to business property relief in the Budget, the long-term impact of these changes will be incredibly damaging and we are working with many organisations including Family Business UK to explain the level of damage this policy will do to business investment and consequently the economy.”

The comments from Robinsons Brewery echo those of fellow Greater Manchester-based giant, JW Lees.

William Lees-Jones, who owns and runs the seventh-generation business, said in November last year that the changes announced in the Budget represented an ‘existential threat’ to its future.

Lees-Jones warned he was “facing the very real prospect that we will never be able to hand on the running of my business to our children”.

He also said in the event of his death, his family will “simply not have the cash or liquid assets available to cover an enormous inheritance tax bill”.