absorb

"There’s no way a sector like ours can carry this level of cost and just absorb it as profit," he added.

There has been a growing backlash from firms to the higher costs they face from the Budget, but chancellor Rachel Reeves has said "businesses will have to absorb some of this through profits".

"We just need to make sure that the immediate impact of all these things doesn’t come in one big lump and that the economy has time to absorb these changes in a way that doesn’t fuel inflation," Mr Higginson told the BBC's Today programme.

He reiterated the UK government's stance that Western allies would be resolute for "as long as it takes" adding: "That’s the message President Putin has to absorb and the reassurance for President Zelensky."

"That’s the message President Putin has to absorb and the reassurance for President Zelensky," he told the programme.