The chief executive of Rolls-Royce has urged Rachel Reeves not to “get in the way” of economic growth as the Chancellor prepares for a tax raid on businesses in her maiden Budget on Wednesday.

Tufan Erginbilgic said the Chancellor should support businesses and move “at an accelerated pace” to back pioneering British technologies, including the mini nuclear reactors his company is developing.

Mr Erginbilgic told The Telegraph: “This Government very powerfully made the point that economic growth is the first priority.

“If you look at the UK, it has been lagging behind key competitors. So I think whatever the policies are, we should make sure that they actually support economic growth – and that is the big point.

“It needs to support productivity improvements, therefore infrastructure is important.

“That’s hopefully what the Budget will do, rather than policies which may actually get in the way of economic growth.”

His remarks come as Ms Reeves prepares for what is expected to be the biggest tax-raising Budget in history, targeting businesses and the wealthy. The Chancellor is expected to hit businesses with a rise in national insurance contributions.

‘Mini-nukes rollout must speed up’

Mr Erginbilgic was speaking in Prague as Rolls-Royce signed a deal in the Czech Republic to deploy around six small modular reactors (SMRs) in a European first. A delayed, parallel SMR competition in the UK is still rumbling on.

Mr Erginbilgic backed efforts by ministers to slash planning red tape and tackle regulatory delays, which have been blamed for restricting Britain’s ability to build things.

“It needs to be speeding up, absolutely,” he said. “Because, frankly, you can run these processes rigorously and robustly, but also at an accelerated pace.

“That’s what businesses do, right? We don’t cut corners. We do things in a very robust manner, but a lot faster [than the Government]. So that’s what needs to happen.”

On Tuesday, the chief executive appeared with Czech prime minister Petr Fiala to sign a major deal between Rolls-Royce’s SMR business and CEZ, the state-owned energy company.

Under the agreement, CEZ has ordered up to three gigawatts of SMR reactors from Rolls-Royce – equivalent to roughly six mini reactors – and will become a “strategic partner” of the business.

This will see the Czech state company take a stake of roughly 20pc in Rolls-Royce SMR for “hundreds of millions of pounds”, joining a list of investors that also includes a Qatari sovereign wealth fund, American utility giant Constellation Energy and the billionaire Perrodo family, a French clan who made their money in oil.