Marks & Spencer’s improving sales and profits have not eased its argument that government policy is making it harder to operate. The dispute centres on whether the Budget offers meaningful help to high-street firms or adds fresh costs at a difficult moment.

Chief executive Stuart Machin described the latest Budget as “a whole lot of nothing” and said the cumulative effect of the past three Budgets amounted to “one of the biggest tax grabs in history”. He said changes billed positively on business rates would nevertheless add £10 million to M&S’s annual bill, alongside pressure from National Insurance, pay and packaging-tax increases.¹

The retailer said it absorbed about £35 million in costs in the latest half-year from those changes and disruption linked to the Middle East. Machin said M&S was being cautious on recruitment as it navigated higher employment costs and fragile consumer confidence.²

The government, by contrast, has presented Chancellor John Healey’s Budget as support for millions of households and tax help for many high-street businesses, intended to shield workers and firms from the economic impact of the Iran war. That claim sits uneasily with M&S’s assessment that the practical effect on a large retailer will be higher bills.

The company’s results underline the mixed picture. Adjusted pre-tax profit rose to £403.2 million in the 26 weeks to September 26, from £184.1 million a year earlier, while sales climbed 16.2% to £9.25 billion. Food sales were ahead of plan, but fashion, home and beauty continued to feel the longer-term effects of last year’s cyber disruption, as well as weaker trading conditions. Machin said M&S remained focused on its plan despite the “onslaught of cost headwinds.”¹

For M&S, stronger trading provides resilience rather than a rebuttal to its tax concerns; for the government, the Budget is framed as targeted protection in an unusually difficult economic environment.