Minimum wage will rise by 50p an hour for over 21s under Rachel Reeves’ Autumn budget, while businesses could benefit from lower electricity bills and lower rates for some hospitality and retail properties
The minimum wage for workers over 21 years of age will rise by 50p an hour to £12.71 and is one of the main impacts on fresh produce businesses in the government’s new budget, announced today (27 November).
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the change as part of her Autumn budget, with workers aged 18-20 also seeing a wage increase of 8.5 per cent (85p an hour), to £10.85, and 16, 17-year-olds and apprentices seeing a rise to £8 an hour, up from £7.55.
The staggered raises are part of a wider move to ultimately reach one single rate for all adults.
The news will be a blow for employers already struggling to cover increased national insurance contributions and last year’s minimum wage increase.
Reeves also confirmed the freezing of national insurance and personal tax thresholds for an extra three years beyond 2028. The move is expected to raise government tax income to a record level, as more people enter higher bands over time.
Meanwhile, hospitality businesses will welcome news that Reeves has permanently lowered tax rates for 750,000 retail and hospitality properties. Reeves had been expected to reform rates and potentially make Covid-era discounts more permanent.
Business secretary Peter Kyle this week also pledged to lower electricity bills for 7,000 British businesses, and said the British Business Bank would focus its lending on the eight “high potential” sectors identified in the industrial strategy.
