Another week of politi­cal chaos left local shops facing higher costs, lower post-tax profits and increased prices following two bouts of government U-turns. 

A rise in corporation tax from 19% to 25% from April 2023 was announced on Friday 14 October and followed by three further announcements expected to negatively affect lo­cal shops on Monday 17 October. 

These include cancel­ling the 1.25 percentage-point cut to dividends tax that was planned for April, cancelling a freeze in alcohol duties and con­firming current energy-bill support for businesses will end in April 2023.