Morrisons chief executive Rami Baitieh has called on the government to space out the “avalanche of costs” set to hit businesses following the October Budget.

Among changes to business rates, the packaging levy and minimum wage increases, which were introduced by Chancellor Reeves on 30 October, from April 2025, employers’ National Insurance contributions will also rise from 13.8% to 15% on a worker’s earnings above £175 a week.

It is understood this change to National Insurance Contributions alone will cost Morrisons around £75m, The Sun reported.

Baitieh told the title: “The National Insurance change adds insult to injury. The problem is that it’s an avalanche of costs that is coming all at once.

Subscribe to Grocery Gazette for free

Sign up here to get the latest grocery and food news each morning

“So I have asked them, can we not defer some of it or go step by step, like a doctor would do — raising the dose with seven pills over seven days.”

Other leading UK supermarkets have warned of the impact of this change, as Sainsbury’s expects to see a £140m hike to its National Insurance bill, while Tesco is facing an extra £1bn added to its bill over the next four years.

Last month, UK retailers warned Reeves that her decision to increase employers’ NI contributions will lead to “inevitable” job cuts and price rises.

In a letter, more than 70 companies including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons said that the hike, combined with a rise in the national minimum wage and new packaging levies, could see the retail industry’s costs surge by up to £7bn a year.