Two-thirds of companies are canceling hiring plans after Reeves’ tax raid

Ms Newton-Smith will say: “If businesses I speak to want to create more opportunities, more investment and more training in their local communities… instead so many businesses – especially in retail and hospitality – have found themselves in crisis management.

“Even if the risk is not critical, companies that have experienced very difficult years are now able to keep the damage under control.

“Too many companies have to compromise on their growth plans. We can’t let that stand and do nothing.

“What really defines growth are the decisions made in boardrooms across the country.

“It’s the financial directors and the CEOs who are asking themselves: can we afford to invest? Can we afford to expand? Can we afford to take a chance on new people? Long after the budget, the answer we hear from so many companies is still: not yet.”

She will also point out the inheritance tax for farmerswarning that many now fear they may not be able to pass on their livelihoods to future generations.

Ms Newton Smith’s speech reflects growing anger over the Budget, with business lobby groups warning ministers in a private call last week that a £25 billion increase in employers’ national insurance contributions plans to tackle British unemployment crisis.

Businesses that rely on low-paid, part-time staff will be particularly affected, as the threshold for paying National Insurance on employee earnings will fall from £9,100 to £5,000. This coincides with a minimum wage increase from April next year and Angela Rayner’s sweeping workers’ rights reform, which will cost companies £5 billion a year.