Microsoft to raise prices after post-Brexit pound slump

The value of sterling against the dollar has fallen by about 18 per cent since the UK voted to leave the EU in June

Microsoft is the latest company to raise prices in recent weeks, blaming the referendum for the slump in the pound (Getty)

Microsoft is to increase its prices by as much as 22 per cent due to the slump in the value of the pound following the EU referendum result, a rise that is likely to affect thousands of UK businesses.

The value of sterling against the dollar has fallen by about 18 per cent since the UK voted to leave the EU in June, prompting tech companies such as Apple and Dell to increase prices in Britain.

Microsoft, one of the biggest sellers of business software in the UK, said the new prices will come into effect in January 2017.

Prices of Microsoft's enterprise software will be increased by 13 per cent, while prices for its cloud services will jump by 22 per cent.

"We periodically assess the impact of local pricing of our products and services to ensure there is reasonable alignment across the region and this change is an outcome of this assessment," Microsoft said in a statement.

Microsoft’s Office suite of productivity tools, which includes programmes such as Word, Powerpoint and Outlook, is likely to be among the softwares expected to see a price rise.

The company said it would not change the prices on consumer services.

The increase in prices will only apply to new purchases and not existing orders.

Microsoft is the latest company to raise prices in recent weeks, blaming the referendum for the slump in the pound.

The move comes after consumer good giants Unilever attempted to pass a 10 per cent price increase to UK supermarket Tesco earlier this month. The 24-hour pricing row saw Tesco briefly suspending online sale of Marmite and other popular brands.

Paul Buckle, the chief of executive of Nestlé, last week said it could follow Unilever and raise its prices in the UK to deal with the collapse in the value of the pound.

Bulcke said the Swiss food giant is considering “all options”, including efficiency savings and price rises, as it comes under pressure from soaring costs.

A Cabinet Office spokesman said: “We are constantly monitoring market and supplier pricing to ensure best value for our customers and the taxpayer. Where we are made aware of proposed price changes we will work closely with that supplier to identify ways to mitigate any increases in price.”