BrewDog chairman Allan Leighton has urged Chancellor Rachel Reeves to move away from “taxing everything in some way, shape or form” as she prepares her Autumn Budget.
Mr Leighton, who also chairs supermarket giant Asda, said the government should focus on investment to drive growth rather than hitting households and businesses with further tax rises.
His intervention comes amid reports the Chancellor faces a £40billion hole in the public finances.
Options under consideration are said to include a mansion tax, extending the freeze on income tax thresholds and applying National Insurance to rental payments. Business rates hikes are also expected, reforms that major grocers warn could add £1.7billion to their bills.
Leighton described the changes as “very unhelpful”, warning they would add to inflationary pressures already squeezing consumers.
Asda data this week showed middle-class families’ disposable incomes had fallen for the first time in two years, while official figures confirm poorer households are facing the sharpest rise in living costs since early 2023.
He said supermarkets were doing their best to shield customers, pressuring suppliers such as Heinz and Nestlé to cut prices.
“We try to do the right thing for the customer and if the suppliers want to come with us, and a lot of them do, then we take that support,” Leighton said.