In 1969, the year Neil Armstrong landed on the moon, the Beatles released Abbey Road and Concorde flew for the first time, Johnsons of Hedon opened its doors. This June it will close for good.
Owner Mike Brooke puts the blame firmly at the feet of Chancellor Rachel Reeves, whose October Budget hiked employer National Insurance Contributions, wage costs through the Minimum Wage increase and increased business rates.
Mike was hoping to hand the shop on to his son, but Rachel Reeves’ Budget has meant that is simply not a worthwhile prospect.
The store will close on 15th June, leaving the almost 30 staff facing redundancy.
The DIY store is a Hedon institution, offering DIY products at a fair price – a mission it has carried out for over half a century under the stewardship of Mike Brooke and, previously, his father George.
Graham has been at the forefront of opposing the Labour government’s economic policies since the October Budget, which he called the Budget of Broken Promises. He has repeatedly sought to show Labour why its Budget is destroying businesses, opportunity and making our country poorer.
He has called on the Prime Minister to sack Reeves at the earliest opportunity.
Graham Stuart, Member of Parliament for Beverley and Holderness, commented, “Johnson’s is the sort of family business that is exactly what we should want to see more of.
“With the jobs tax, wage hikes and business rates hikes, you can’t blame people like Mike for deciding to stay in business isn’t worth it any more.
“But that’s Labour’s Britain: a country where business is there to support the treasury, not the other way round. That’s why 200,000 businesses across the country have closed since her Budget.
“We’ll all be poorer as a result of Rachel Reeves. She needs to go.”
Mike Brooke said, “I’ve loved supplying Hedon with its DIY supplies for 56 years, but with rising National Insurance costs, rising wage costs and rising rates costs, it’s just not worth it to run a business any more.
“I don’t want my kids to be saddled with a business which Rachel Reeves wants to raid every year, so we’ll be closing in June.”
