The chief executive of holiday park chain Butlin's has criticised Chancellor Rachel Reeves, arguing that raising taxes on businesses is not the route to enhancing the Ƶ economy.
Speaking on an upcoming episode of City AM's Boardroom Uncovered show, Jon Hendry Pickup declared the country is "not going to tax ourselves to success" and that last year's Autumn Budget "felt like an own goal".
The CEO argued that permitting businesses to invest, expand and enhance their offerings would be a superior approach to strengthening the economy rather than imposing higher taxes on companies such as employers' National Insurance contributions and elevating the National Minimum Wage. He stated that both tax increases have made it more challenging for companies such as Butlin's to recruit new staff and that the Autumn Budget in 2024 felt like a "tax on jobs".
When questioned about what he would tell Chancellor Rachel Reeves if given the opportunity, the CEO of Butlin's said: "So that growth lever that they talked about just before the election, that was their number one focus.", as reported by .
"I'd like to see that being the number one focus, because we're not going to tax ourselves to success. We need to make sure that we're able to stimulate growth. We need to be able to invest, to grow our business, to develop the proposition, to build skills for our team. I'd like to see more of that first and foremost."
Butlin's boss calls for public to be 'told the truth' When questioned about his confidence in the Prime Minister and Chancellor's actions in power, he responded: "I've yet to see something that says we're going to pull that growth lever.
"So I'm still a little bit 'jury's out' at the moment. I know they've got a difficult time to manage through.
"But I would like them to say something that says we understand the value of private business rather than just managing the public sector, which it feels like we're doing a lot of at the moment.
"And I would like them to say something that says we know the value of what you're doing. And so that's what we're going to help you do more of it in difficult circumstances."
The Butlin's chief also outlined his plans if he were handed the keys to Number 10 for a day.
He stated: "Let's start recognising [hospitality] for it being the third biggest employer in the Ƶ and the place where people often start and get their jobs and move forward.
"I understand the government has got a difficult time at the moment from a balancing finance point of view, but it felt like a tax on jobs that we did last year, and we can see it already with the number of people who've come out of hospitality. I think that's disappointing.
"I'd like to be able to tell people the truth about the fact that we've got to make tough decisions. We've got a demography that says we can't just have fewer and fewer people paying tax and rents.
"We need to manage things differently, make better choices than we have been doing and I don't think we've specifically told people the truth on that. So if I was there for a day, I'd like to have a day of truth telling."
