By NOOR QURASHI, NEWS REPORTER Published: 09:19 BST, 1 October 2025 | Updated: 09:39 BST, 1 October 2025
The boss of AO has warned his successful British business is having to fight extra-hard to battle Chinese competition because of Rachel Reeves' tax rises.John Roberts said last Autumn's budget had left his electrical company facing an extra £8m charge a year that international competitors do not face. The so-called kitchen king initially started out selling discounted fridges and washing machines after a £1 bet with a friend it wouldn't work out.But 25 years later, with a £564million empire, Mr Roberts has now claimed his British company is being 'disadvantaged' by the UK government - when in reality, the authority should be 'turbocharging' it.He told the BBC: 'As a business, we employ thousands of people, we do great service.'What I really object to is the narrative that you can just keep taxing wealthy people and wasting the money. We are driving incredible amounts of wealth out of this nation.'The 51-year-old said his firm had overcome a post-Covid pandemic slump in trade and problems involving international expansion to raise its profit outlook.But he warned costs from April's rise in National Insurance and the minimum wage were putting 'grit' into businesses like his. John Roberts (pictured) said last Autumn's budget had left his electrical company facing an extra £8m charge a year making it 'unable to carry the costs' of competitors He warned Rachel Reeves' (pictured) costs from April's rise in National Insurance and the minimum wage were putting 'grit' into businesses like his British Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden and other members of the cabinet applaud as Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers his keynote speech at Britain's Labour Party's annual conference in LiverpoolHe said: 'It (puts) grit into our business and grit is cost, and that means that it's harder to be competitive.'The comments come as last week Mr Roberts said Labour's financial measures were threatening to tip Britain into recession.He explained: 'We’ve lived through a few recessions in the last 25 years – I think we’re heading into another one.'We have inflation coming through and we are now feeling that in the costs across businesses.'Business leaders that I speak to are looking at how they can take people out.'Costs walk into businesses on legs – those legs have got much more expensive. It is much more difficult to recruit people, it’s much less flexible than it has ever been to recruit people.'The father-of-five also accused Labour of driving wealth out of the country by squeezing more and more tax out of them only to waste the money.He said: ‘What I really object to is the narrative that you can just keep taxing wealthy people and wasting the money. We are driving incredible amounts of wealth out of this nation. Sir Keir Starmer Leader of the Labour Party delivers his conference speech at ACC Liverpool yesterday‘I know many people that have left the UK. You just can’t keep gearing the tax up. What you’ve got to do is run the country efficiently, you’ve got to take the tough decisions.’The Treasury maintains tax decisions made at last year's Budgets meant the government was able to 'deliver on its priorities' such as investing in the NHS and boosting wages for British workers.A statement added: 'We are a pro-business government that has capped corporation tax at 25 per cent, the lowest rate in the G7, we're reforming business rates, have secured trade deals with the US, EU and India.'But Mr Roberts' comments last week came amid increasing objections from businesses they could not take any more tax hikes – and growing fears of a fresh raid by Reeves in November’s Budget.Dismal economic figures have also shown the damaging impact her previous tax hikes – notably the increase in employer national insurance – have had.The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development warned last week Britain is this year set to face the highest inflation among all the G7 group of advanced economies.Mr Roberts rejected the argument for so-called ‘day one’ rights that are soon to be made law – which give workers the same employment protection as longer-serving colleagues from the moment they start a job.‘We should be talking about job creation, not enforcing things that make business leaders think twice about recruiting people and about giving somebody a chance,’ he said.‘If the risks associated with giving those people a chance start going up exponentially then you think twice about it.‘We can’t carry costs that some of our competitors are not carrying. We should be turbo-charged by our UK government, not disadvantaged.’
