The founder and majority owner of UK menswear retailer has hit out at the government over its move to raise employer National Insurance and the Minimum Wage in April, calling the measures “anti-business”.
Nick Wheeler said the decisions were to blame for him curbing investment in Britain, and instead targeting investment overseas, he told The Telegraph newspaper.
He said this week: “With the National Insurance changes, the Minimum Wage increase and the bureaucracy that [the government] is putting into businesses, it’s just ridiculous.”
The minimum wage increase will give workers aged 21 and over an extra 77p an hour from April.
He also claimed chancellor Rachel Reeves’ policies were “driving out wealth-creating people from the country.”
He referred to her Budget-introduced policies as “anti-business”, adding that a recent move by Reeves to ask regulators for ideas on how to drive growth “was misguided… Regulators know how to stop growth. What they know is how to regulate the hell out of the country and stop everything.
“[The government] is saying the UK is open for business and they’re trying to get people to invest here. Well I’m saying, I’m sorry but I’m not going to be investing in the UK.”
Wheeler said Charles Tyrwhitt still planned to open some stores in the UK this year but he added: “Given the choice, I will invest overseas, which is a real shame. When we look at where we’re investing, it’s the US, it’s Germany, Australia, France, Sweden. It’s overseas growth.”
Expansion is based on Wheeler saying the business is only getting stronger with Charles Tyrwhitt having grown every year bar three since he founded it at university, he noted.
The plan is to open 10 stores a year, from 52 currently.
He added: “I always said, when this business stops growing, I’m not interested anymore”, but noted he has freedom to make longer-term decisions as he owns 95% of the business.
“I’m not thinking about next year, I’m thinking about 30 years’ time. If ever there’s a question about one of our stores looking tired, I’ll say, just redo it.
“If you’re planning to sell out in three years, then you’d think I don’t want to spend a million quid doing the store.”
Most recent accounts for the retailer showed sales jumped more than 45% to hit £269 million financial year to July 2023, ahead of pre-pandemic levels.
