ABF boss George Weston says budget is positive for ‘the least affluent’ but will cost firm ‘tens of millions’ of pounds

Britain’s high street retailers will carry the “weight of tax rises” announced in the budget, which will benefit “the least affluent” consumers, according to the chief executive of Primark’s parent company.

George Weston, the chief executive of Associated British Foods (ABF), which owns Primark as well as food and sugar brands, said the business was preparing for a big rise in costs, after Rachel Reeves’s tax-raising measures, including an increase in employers’ national insurance contributions from next April.