The outgoing boss of John Lewis has warned of the ‘terrible impact’ of rising taxes as customers fret over their children staying at home because they cannot find work.
Peter Ruis said a hike in business rates in next month’s Budget would hammer the High Street and economy – robbing youngsters of job opportunities.
Warning that his customers are grappling with a state of ‘perma-crisis’, he said: ‘Obviously people still have money but it’s tough out there, isn’t it?
‘I’m someone with graduate and teenage kids. I think I read recently there are 10,500 graduate jobs compared to 60,000 or 70,000 five or six years ago.
‘So a lot of our key customers in their 40s and 50s are worrying about their kids and having them at home.’ Almost 1m people aged 16 to 24 are classed as ‘Neets’ – not in education, employment or training.
