Future of iconic homeware chain with 59 shops thrown into doubt after Budget tax raid fallout

THE aboriginal of an iconic homeware concatenation has been thrown into uncertainty pursuing the fallout of Rachel Reeves' Budget taxation raid.

The retailer, which has 59 shops crossed each corners of the UK, is scouting retired imaginable buyers.

Lakeland, which sells cooking and cleaning products arsenic good arsenic different location appliances, employs astir 1,000 people.

The family-run business was launched 61 years agone and is present spearheaded by the 3 sons of laminitis Alan Rayner.

Now, the brothers person selected advisory institution Teneo to assistance them navigate a imaginable sale, metropolis sources told Sky.

Lakeland's main lender, HSBC, is reportedly being advised by accountancy steadfast PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The institution is headquartered successful Windermere, Cumbria but has stores crossed England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

It follows Reeves' archetypal Budget successful October, which was dubbed "the astir damaging for autarkic retailers successful caller memory" by the British Independent Retailers Association.

The Chancellor controversially announced tax rises amounting £40billion - including raising the complaint of leader National Insurance contributions.

This, alongside expanding minimum wage, has hiked costs for retailers and led immoderate to raise their prices to sorb the increase.

Figures this month showed bosses had wasted nary clip successful pulling imperishable recruitment adverts, with December seeing the steepest driblet successful occupation vacancies successful good implicit 4 years.

A intimately watched study by KPMG and REC, compiled by S&P Global, shows the occupation marketplace is already shrinking, with companies explicitly blaming the rise successful leader national insurance contributions.

Some person been making redundancies successful December, according to its survey of 400 recruiters.

As good arsenic homeware businesses, supermarkets person besides been deed - with effect and veg prices astatine hazard of soaring.

Two supermarkets, Sainsbury's and Tesco, person adjacent been forced to contented statements acknowledging the predicted hike.

Sainsbury's CEO Simon Roberts told The Grocer that the concatenation would request to enactment with its suppliers to minimise the interaction connected customers.

He said: "Suppliers person got costs coming astatine them arsenic well, of course, fixed each of the changes successful National Insurance coming.

"We’ll beryllium moving truly intimately to marque definite that betwixt us, we find the champion answers we tin and we proceed to springiness customers the champion worth that we perchance can."

It is not the archetypal supermarket to admit the hard times up - with Tesco brag Ken Murphy besides promising to support customers against the looming economical challenges, a sentiment besides echoed by M&S CEO Stuart Machin.