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Office for National Statistics figures show the struggles faced by firms in different regions – and threaten to pile pressure on companies based in the Red Wall of former Labour strongholds.
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Northern businesses have been hit harder by cost hikes than firms in London and the South East, research reveals today.
Analysis by Labour found 53.6% of companies in Yorkshire and the Humber, 52.1% of firms in the North East and 47.8% in the North West said prices of materials, goods and services had risen “more than normal” between February and March.
In contrast, just 36.7% of firms in the capital and 46.6% in the South East reported above-normal cost surges.
The Office for National Statistics figures studied by Labour reveal the struggles faced by firms in different regions – and threaten to pile pressure on companies based in the Red Wall of former Labour strongholds.
Firms hit by cost increases are beginning to pass them on to customers.
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Image:
Martyn Wheatley / i-Images)
Nearly a quarter of businesses in the North admitted they had been forced to lift prices for consumers, compared with one in seven in London.
Shadow Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “As household incomes have fallen to a record low, higher costs for firms mean higher prices for customers.
“It’s simply not right that companies in parts of the country that should be booming are being held back by a government that isn’t on their side, with their customers ultimately paying the price.”
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