'Stop hammering Middle England': Jigsaw owner slams Labour tax hikes

The boss of upmarket fashion retailer Jigsaw has urged Andy Burnham to ‘stop hammering Middle England’ as tax hikes weigh on spending.David Ross, who bought Jigsaw in 2018, urged the Prime Minister to reverse tax increases and make it a ‘fair deal’ for businesses and employees.‘The system is currently stacked against retailers and our customers,’ he said. ‘We will see whether Andy Burnham is genuine about reviving Britain’s high streets.’The entrepreneur, who co-founded Carphone Warehouse, said the Government had to ‘stop hammering Middle England. Our customer works, pays her taxes, and has watched frozen thresholds and higher bills eat her pay rise.‘Very often she’s also the person behind the till. Squeeze her and you squeeze the shop, the jobs and the tax take together. Leave working households’ take home pay alone.’Rising labour and energy costs, paired with changes to business rates, have hammered businesses, and there are mounting fears that there’s more to come in next month’s Budget, as Chancellor John Healey grapples with limited headroom and a pledge to increase spending on welfare and defence. Ross called on Burnham to reform business rates and ‘keep shops out of the new top that was aimed at warehouses and hit flagship stores instead.’ Jigsaw owner David Ross is calling on Burnham to reform business rates He joins other retailers in calling for the threshold for employers’ National Insurance to be upped to £6,000, adding that changes to workers’ rights should target exploitative practices or contracts rather than flexible jobs.‘Youth unemployment is at a ten-year high, don’t let new employment rules kill the Saturday job, where millions of us learned the value of hard work. Target the exploitative contracts and leave the weekend jobs alone.’He added: 'None of this is a handout. It's a fair deal for the businesses that create jobs and the people who do them. Give us a chance, Andy.'Ross’s comments came as Jigsaw claimed its ‘turnaround is working’ after an 18 per cent increase in sales in the six months to July, compared to a year earlier.It was driven by a 43 per cent jump in dress sales, and its yellow suit, launched in March, sold out within three weeks.Concession sales, where Jigsaw products are sold in sites like department stores, jumped by 47 per cent on a like-for-like basis year-on-year, while online sales increased by 21 per cent.The business said international online sales increased by 48 per cent year-on-year in the period. It plans to push further into the US via Macy's and Nordstrom's online marketplaces from this autumn.That came despite a ‘subdued market backdrop’ as retailers absorb higher costs, with ‘little targeted support for business’ ahead of the Budget on October 28.Jigsaw hailed its recent progress after launching a turnaround programme to help improve its performance after recording a £3.5million loss for the year to March 2025. Making a stand: Sales at Jigsaw are on the up and shoppers are loving the chain's dressesIts 'strategic reset', started in 2025, has focused on strengthening its core business in Britain, upping its international reach and creating 'authority and consistency' across its product lines.Tikki Godley, managing director of Jigsaw, said: 'This season is further evidence that our turnaround is working.'Customers are watching their wallets right now, but still choosing Jigsaw.’In March, the group said it planned to open 10 new shops across Britain this year.Founded in 1970, luxury womenswear retailer Jigsaw has long been synonymous with timeless tailoring and quality craftsmanship. But in a market crowded with fast fashion and hyper-digitised retail, it has had to evolve rapidly.The business struggled during the Covid-19 pandemic to retain its middle-class shopper base and was forced to close 30 shops.Jonathan De Mello, founder of JDM Retail, said: 'While high street pressures, flat non-food retail markets, and rising business costs remain persistent challenges, Jigsaw has managed to shrug these off with good growth across all channels, driven by a surge in dress sales in particular.‘The future prognosis is encouraging as the brand pivots from stabilisation to international growth, with a forthcoming US launch this autumn via Nordstrom and Macy’s.’ Give us a chance, Andy: three things Jigsaw wants to see from Burnham's first Budget David Ross, Jigsaw's owner, told This Is Money: 'I'll start with some good news. This summer Jigsaw’s customers bought more from us than they did last year, about 20% more. We made better clothes and our customers noticed.'British shoppers still want great products at a fair price, made by people who care about quality, fabric and fit.'But make no mistake, the system is currently stacked against retailers and our customers. This autumn the Government has an opportunity to change that in the Budget. The decisions they make will be telling; we will see whether Andy Burnham is genuine about reviving Britain’s high streets. Here’s three things he needs to do:'First, business rates. Retail is five per cent of the economy but pays more than a fifth of the rates bill which rises with inflation every year whether you're trading well or badly. Scrap the annual uprating, and keep shops out of the new top rate that was aimed at warehouses and hit flagship stores instead.'Second, make it easier to give someone a job. Retailers have absorbed £6.5billion in extra employment costs in two years. Lift the employer NI threshold to £6,000 and we will hire school-leavers. Youth unemployment is at a ten-year high, don't let new employment rules kill the Saturday job, where millions of us learned the value of hard work. Target the exploitative contracts and leave the weekend jobs alone.'Third, stop hammering Middle England. Our customer works, pays her taxes, and has watched frozen thresholds and higher bills eat her pay rise. Very often she's also the person behind the till. Squeeze her and you squeeze the shop, the jobs and the tax take together. Leave working households' take-home pay alone.'None of this is a handout. It's a fair deal for the businesses that create jobs and the people who do them. Give us a chance, Andy.' 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