Pioneer Trading’s managing director, Danny Williams, argues that minimum wage increases will add additional pressure to manufacturing firms and limit business growth.

My loyal reader may assume that I won’t be an immediate fan of Sir Starmer. Having had the opportunity to look at the policies covered in the King’s Speech – and following the previous government’s incompetence – I fear that we will all suffer further under Labour out of a wilful desire to make businesses pay, however counter intuitive that may be.

Our industry is based upon the strongest (and sometimes, in the deep and distant past, more controversial) elements of entrepreneurialism. The ‘double glazing’ sector was founded and continues to thrive on people that have the drive and spirit to take chances, to drive ahead with ideas and take advantage of opportunities that they believe can be monetised…and who are prepared to put everything on the line to do so.

We take risks and when we are successful, we make money, create jobs and opportunities for those that want a secure and dependable livelihood.

We are business leaders and wealth creators, and whilst we make money for ourselves, we also create opportunities for tens of thousands of others. But so much of the Labour government’s policies and doctrines endanger everything that we have achieved and so much of what we need to do to remain successful. Minimum wage increases are of particular concern.

Context is everything of course and we must remember that the Tories introduced the second highest hike to the ‘National Living Wage’ in history – 9.8% – in April, which was second only to the 10.8% introduced by Blair 24 years ago. We are still adjusting to the April increase.

Additionally, of course, a rise in the minimum wage also impacts wage demands further up the skills ladder; wages overall have increased by around 5% so far this year, nationally. Keir Starmer’s declared policy of increasing wages for the lowest paid as a means of driving those receiving benefits back into full employment, strikes me as naïve and will simply further increase the pressure on businesses.

I speak as a member of the window and door manufacturing community but businesses across the board are complaining that Starmer’s proposals to meddle with wages on top of the increase pushed through by the last government, are putting a strain on corporate budgets which in turn will limit their ability to hire staff.

The added pressure to boost the minimum wage risks fuelling inflation as well as limiting business growth which in turn of course, means that lower paid workers will be denied the opportunities that these changes are intended to create. I am baffled that this concept is so difficult to understand by those in power.

The pursuit of this and similar policies will wobble the Bank of England and instead of getting the reduction in interest rates that is so sorely needed, we may continue to bump along the bottom with homeowners continuing their reluctance to invest in their homes and further stifling sales of replacement windows and doors.

Fabricators will invest more heavily in automated machinery to remove the rising costs of employing unskilled workers.

The number of minimum wage jobs is set to pass 2 million as a result of the increase imposed by the Tories, the second such rise in two years, with the Labour government determined to add to this pressure.

This figure is up by 25% compared to 2023 and equates to 7% of the total workforce, according to the Low Pay Commission. This problem affects a huge number of workers and of course, the companies that employ them.

Suggestions are to offer tax breaks to increase the earnings of the lowest paid rather than penalise (again!) employers. But where do we think that money would be found? Yup, those of us that have created the employment in the first place.

Time will tell. You might guess however, that I am less than optimistic.