Currys, the electronics giant, has warned of fewer new staff hires to manage rising wage costs following recent government budget changes.

Chief executive Alex Baldock said while there are no plans to cut existing jobs among the 28,000 employees, recruitment will slow down due to an anticipated extra £32m in wage expenses caused by hikes in national insurance and the minimum wage.

Previously, the firm predicted unavoidable price increases to accommodate for these additional financial burdens as it claimed such measures would "depress investment and hiring". On Tuesday, Mr Baldock said: "What we’re looking at, at the minute, is a period of reduced hiring. What we want to be able to do is employ more people."

He urged the Government to consider phasing in employers' national insurance contributions that will start as of April and called for a revamp of business rates.

Despite cost concerns, Currys raised its profit forecasts for the full year due to strong holiday season performance, caused shares to soar 11% in Wednesday’s morning trade session. Notably, the company saw a 2% increase in like-for-like sales within the UK over the past 10 weeks with high demand in products such as laptops, mobile phones, and items.

This rise balanced out slight declines in television sales. Moreover, the brand's Nordic segment also saw improvement, recording a 1% sales growth during the peak trading period. The group now anticipates that underlying pre-tax profits will increase by between 23% to 31%, amounting to £145m to £155m.