Primark owner’s boss urges Reeves not to hit shoppers with budget tax rises

Primark’s sales rose 1% to £9.5bn in the year to 13 September. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

The boss of Primark’s parent group has urged Rachel Reeves to avoid hitting consumers with a repeat of last year’s tax-heavy budget which he claimed sent the retailer’s sales into reverse, saying “don’t do it again”.

As the chancellor prepares to make her budget speech on 26 November, George Weston, the chief executive of Associated British Foods (ABF), said: “A budget this late has the potential to have an enormous impact on Christmas trading.”