Rachel Reeves' Budget has left Morrisons with 'unwelcome' extra costs: Greg Wright

But Morrisons’ CEO is not pausing for breath, declaring himself “happy but not satisfied” with the overall performance over the last year.

He told reporters on a conference call: “We need to be proud of this brand and give it to the next generation in better shape.”

The latest results provided much for Mr Baitiéh and his team to take pride in. The supermarket delivered its best quarter since 2021 for the three months to October 27, when sales rose 4.9 per cent compared to the previous year.

Like-for-like sales rose 4.1 per cent in the year ending October 27, while earnings jumped to £835 million from £751 million in the previous 12 months.

In particular, Mr Baitiéh has been keen to lead a cultural change at Morrisons which is in keeping with the spirit of Sir Ken Morrison, by listening to customers. As a result, he believes he is developing a clear and detailed picture of what customers want.

He told reporters the Morrisons More Card is now firmly embedded across the business, with linked sales growing from 47 per cent just 18 months ago to 76 per cent today. Morrisons has introduced a rolling programme of around 2,500 “deeply discounted” More Card prices and points are now awarded on every product.

There were, however, frustrations over the key Christmas trading period, when Morrisons suffered IT issues, forcing it to cut the price of items including turkeys and Champagne for some customers.

There is another cloud that will not shift from the horizon. Morrisons was one of more than 70 businesses, including Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s, who told the Chancellor Rachel Reeves in an open letter that increased taxes for employers announced in the Budget mean price rises are a “certainty”.

When asked to comment on the Budget tax rises, Mr Baitiéh said: “Some of these additional costs were unwelcome, unexpected and we are going to have to redouble our plans if we are to mitigate them.

“It’s probably too early to make a call on the direct implications, but it is clearly an unhelpful and significant upward pressure on the overall inflationary environment.”

Mr Baitiéh is hardly a lone voice. Rupert Soames, the chairman of the Confederation of British Industry said the Chancellor has “bruised” business confidence by expecting companies to help fill the hole in public finances. However, the Chancellor said earlier this month: “I’m not going to apologise for the Budget, because although I hear criticism, what I don’t hear is any real alternatives.”

The fact remains that the changes announced in the Budget came as a nasty surprise for major employers like Morrisons. It will take months of painstaking diplomacy for the Government to re-build bridges with businesses, as the looming increases to national insurance contributions cause financial headaches for employers around Britain.

Greg Wright is the deputy business editor of The Yorkshire Post