Ocado Retail chief executive Hannah Gibson has said the online supermarket’s model is “somewhat resilient” despite it facing additional costs as a result of tax hikes laid out in the Autumn Budget.

Ocado, which delivered a record-breaking Christmas as retail sales grew by 17.5% to £715.8m in the 13 weeks to 1 December, is one of many supermarkets facing increased costs, including to National Insurance contributions, which will rise from 13.8% to 15% on a worker’s earnings above £175 a week from April.

Gibson said: “I think every retailer has reacted to the announcements that came out in the Budget last year, both to the policy itself, but then also the speed in which it’s been enacting.

“Our model overall is somewhat resilient. Our focus of our core model is around efficiency, it’s pretty unique in terms of that sector.”

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She explained that while Ocado will also face “additional costs”, it will “continue to make sure that we’re mitigating that so we can protect our consumers and we continue to be very focused on the value that we offer.”

Sainsbury’s, which hailed its “biggest ever Christmas” last week, exited last year with “one of the strongest value positions we’ve had in a very long period of time,” according to its CEO Simon Roberts, who said it also “intends to make sure we maintain that”.

M&S boss Stuart Machin has also said it is “determined to focus on value” this year as customer sentiment “remains flat”.

He explained: “We have got some cost headwinds coming our way through the supply base, but we want to absolutely minimise passing that through to customers, both in food and in clothing, and we’re still very focused on that volume growth.”