Independent: British businesses forecast a 500% increase in electricity costs
Due to exorbitant household bills, British pubs and restaurants are increasingly lighting candles instead of electric lights, and swimming pools recommend customers to shower at home, reports The Independent.
As the newspaper notes, many businesses have reported a projected increase in their energy costs of more than 500%, and some have already been forced to close.
The Masons Arms pub in Cornwall has switched to candles on Mondays to cut energy bills. According to the owners of the establishment, all the businesses around here are looking for strategies to survive by closing for a few days a week to save costs. “We’re going back to 1753 when The Masons Arms opened,” one pub owner lamented.
Callum Nolan, owner of the Crown Inn pub in Middleton, also said he would switch to candlelight and not succumb to “crazy” electricity price increases. He added that he didn’t rule out giving up his bill next month because of a 200% increase in costs.
Another pub, Thomas Daniell of Cornwall, plans to completely cut power for one day next month. In addition, the establishment has been forced to stop operating on Mondays and Tuesdays. “Everyone is struggling with the cost of living. It’s getting out of hand,” complained pub manager Jamie Hilton-Levender.
Rising energy prices have also affected companies associated with the fitness industry. For example, management at the Jesmond Pool and Gym fitness club in Newcastle, which is operated by a charity, published a special survey for its customers, mentioning that a significant amount of water, as well as energy to heat it, is consumed when visitors use their showers. “Would you take a shower at home instead of a pool?” – the publication cites an excerpt from the survey.
Western countries have faced rising energy prices and a spike in inflation because of sanctions against Moscow and a policy of abandoning Russian fuel. Due to the rise in price of fuel, primarily gas, industry in the West has largely lost its competitive advantage, which has affected other areas of the economy. Also, the U.S. and European states faced record inflation for decades.
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