Florist describes 'nauseous' wait for Budget

Kate Thomas owns Funky Flowers in Wokingham, as well as one other small floristry business

A florist has said waiting for the Labour Party's budget to be revealed left her feeling "slightly nauseous" for weeks.

Master florist Kate Thomas runs Funky Flowers in Wokingham, Berkshire, and a business making corporate arrangements in Maidenhead.

But she said she had concerns over the financial burden on small businesses, after watching Chancellor Rachel Reeves deliver Labour's first budget since 2010 earlier.

Changes to national insurance and the minimum living wage could prevent smaller companies taking on new staff, she added.

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The legal minimum wage for those aged between 18 and 20 will to go up from £8.60 to £10 per hour from April.

Minimum wage for the over-21s will rise from £11.44 to £12.21.

Ms Thomas employs more than ten staff between her two businesses and is worried small business owners like herself will "think twice" about taking on anyone new.

She said: "I have had a slightly nauseous feeling for weeks coming up to this because it's just not knowing what was coming, but knowing some of it, because obviously things have been said."

The new budget also means companies will be expected to pay 15 per cent for national insurance above £5,000 from April.

However, there is an employment allowance for smaller companies, meaning they can reduce their national insurance liability, to increase from £5,000 to £10,500.

Ms Thomas worries with the extra costs due to be imposed on small businesses, many will choose not to hire new staff

Ms Thomas' staff range from master florists to apprentices and the budget announcements have left her worried she will be forced to cut costs elsewhere to keep the business growing.

"It'll be interesting to now put those figures within the business, to understand quite how that affects the payroll, that underlying figure," she said.

"For small businesses it's yet more costs that are being thrown at us rather than looking at the larger businesses that can actually support and help more.

"As small businesses, we're struggling as it is, in the high street there's an awful lot of shops that are empty in Wokingham - and that's not just here with us, but around the country."

Ms Thomas said she was keen to "look positively" to the future.

She continued: "There's no point just looking doom and gloom, you just live don't you and try and work the best for the business.

"We've been through a lot as business since 2020 and those of us that are still standing, we will continue - whether it's a florist, whether it's a restaurant, it's just really important for us to have that stability."