Bakery shuts after 119 years, blames Rachel Reeves

After 119 years in operation, a family-run bakery has announced its closure, attributing the last nail in the coffin to the Labour Chancellor.

In addition to the continuing cost of living crisis, Lancaster's Bakery, which is situated along Cold Bath Road in Harrogate, has attributed its declining state to Rachel Reeves's hikes in employer costs.

Following her announcement that she would raise employer taxes, the chancellor faced strong opposition from businesses.

The Lancaster Bakery's proprietors posted the following sad announcement on their website: "After 119 years in the family, we hate to inform you that we will be shutting Lancaster's Bakery on Saturday, February 1.

"The last couple of years have been very challenging with rising ingredient costs and utility bills, but the Budget increases in employer costs has made the situation even worse.

"Added to all these increases is the reduction in Business Rate Relief for small businesses."

"It’s so sad to hear the news of Lancaster’s bakery closure," said Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Tom Gordon.

"They have been a stalwart of the town for 119 years.

"The changes in the Budget were ill-thought through and didn’t treat businesses as partners in the growth the Government claims it wants to see.

"I’m concerned that small, local and independent businesses are being hit hardest.

"They are the lifeblood of our economy and important to local communities," he concluded.

Last month, Rachel Reeves visited retailers and informed one that Labour was "trying to help".

The Chancellor said: "I know it’s tough and there are a lot of costs but we are trying to help."

She told the owner: "I’m not sure if you’ve looked at the national insurance changes that we made in the Budget but we’ve increased the employment allowance to £10,500.

"So you should look to see what happens to your business because… if your national insurance bill is less than £10,500, you won’t pay any national insurance.

"We’ve tried to design it in a way that supports the smallest businesses."

While the Government has claimed that around 865,000 employers will not pay any national insurance at all next year as a result of the Treasury's actions, there are still 1.4 million private businesses with staff across Britain.