Primark shoppers have been given an important update on pricing ahead of Christmas

In the autumn Budget, which took place last week, Chancellor Rachel Reeves introduced measures that mean the rate of employer national insurance will rise from April 2025.

George Watson, the chief executive of Associated British Foods, which owns Primark and other food and sugar brands, weighed in on the updates.

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He said it is likely that national insurance bills for the company will go up by "tens of millions". However, Primark customers won't be immediately hit by any costs being passed on.

In some good news for shoppers ahead of Christmas, the chief executive stressed Primark has "no intentions" of increasing prices for the remainder of the year.

Such tax changes in the budget will hit businesses which could result in costs being passed onto customers.

Weston stressed that the tax rises are "falling on the high street" and could force the company to invest elsewhere. He said: "We’re an international business as well, we have choices about where we will invest.

“We undoubtedly have significant increases in costs that we are facing. It is not a surprise, the money had to come from somewhere.

“It’s quite clear to me that this a Budget where the weight of the tax rises are falling on business – within that, it’s fallen particularly on the high street.”

Following the Budget, businesses shared their concerns about the increasing costs and how this could affect customers.

Chief executive at the British Retail Consortium - which represents brands including Marks & Spencer and Tesco - said: "Retailers will do all they can to protect their customers from higher prices.

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"However, with retail and its supply chains all running on wafter-thin margins, it will be very difficult to entirely absorb the billions of pounds in additional costs imposed by the Government at the Budget."

AB Foods reported £1.1billion operating profits in Primark for the year to September 14 - 53 per cent higher than the previous year.

Weston added that the Budget was not too impactful for household incomes which should be good for spending going into the Christmas season.