Small businesses in the UK are forced to close due to skyrocketing energy bills and food prices, the Daly Mail reports. As the publication notes, entrepreneurs across the country are demanding that the government provide them with support that is not yet available to businesses.
Pubs, restaurants and businesses throughout the UK are being forced to close amid the country’s worsening cost of living crisis, the Daily Mail reports. Small businesses have been hit the hardest, with managers demanding immediate government intervention.
For the first time in 40 years inflation has reached double digits at 10.1%. As many as 45 million Britons are expected to struggle to pay their energy bills this winter. A study by University of York experts has revealed that 18 million families will have to make ends meet after the cap on energy bills rose in October and January.
Yorkshire restaurant owner Marco Di Rienzo was forced to close his business after five years in business. Santoni’s Italian restaurant had remained popular all along, but with the worsening cost-of-living crisis Di Rienzo was left with no choice.
“The main factor is what lies ahead. I think there will be a tough year or two ahead: rising food, gas and electricity prices,” the restaurateur said.
According to him, gas and electricity prices have already risen by 40 per cent in recent times. Restaurant food is also reaching “appalling levels”. For example, since March a 20-litre barrel of vegetable oil has risen in price from £20 to £42. Imported Italian mozzarella cheese has also risen from £6 a kilo to more than £7, and San Marzano tomatoes from £8.70 to £11.20 a kilo.
Derbyshire tea room owner Claire Ransome also fears her business could close if she does not get extra support from the government. For her business, she says, her energy bills have risen by 254% to £415 a month.
“I physically cannot afford to pay £415 a month just for electricity. I am very worried and don’t know how I am going to live my life. I’m scared I’ll end up losing my house because of all this,” the publication quotes Ransome as saying.
Jenny Taylor, owner of The Teapot café in Milton, says electricity bills have doubled for her business and she now fears for its future.She says the current situation “could be the beginning of the end for many small businesses”.
Royal Crown Chinese Diner in Aberdeen could also close after it was hit with a £10,000 gas bill – 10 times the usual amount. Owner Martin Tang, said he was “shocked to the core” when he received the bill. He said he simply could not pay that much each month, given that he had been billed £4k for electricity. The cafe is only open five nights a week, but will only open this week to use up its food stocks and say goodbye to its customers.
“Every time I turn on the burner to cook something, I lose money. It’s enough to kill my business. There’s nothing I can do about it. Imagine me telling a customer that their chicken curry will now cost £28. It’s just not possible,” stated Tang.
The swimming pool in Aberdeen is another venue that will be temporarily closed due to “unprecedented” increases in energy costs. The owners hope to be able to reopen in the spring.
According to Martin McTague, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, the “toxic cocktail” of rising taxes, energy costs, inflation and reduced economic growth means “action is needed right now”.
As the Daily Mail notes, the energy price cap imposed by UK regulator Ofgem to protect consumers does not apply to businesses, which pay on average twice the cap for gas and electricity. While homeowners receive government payments to pay their energy bills, there is no such support for small businesses.
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