Businesses in Essex feeling pinch after jump in fuel prices
The cost of fuel has reached the highest level since last November
Businesses across Essex are feeling the pinch, following a jump in the cost of fuel.
It’s as diesel prices across the UK rose to 158.3p a litre, reaching the highest level since last November.
Sam Dimond runs Spotlight Sound in Chelmsford which provides local and national events with staging and production equipment, as well as fitting audio-visual equipment in places like pubs, schools, gyms and churches.
Diesel generators are used to power the production equipment, as well as get the fleet of five spotlight sound vans to and from the venues and customers.
Sam is wondering how much it will affect his business this year.
He said: "This is not good news for many small businesses in Essex who like us rely on diesel for generators and to get to and from jobs. Some will have to pass this onto their customers to survive but we won’t as many of our clients and customers are already on tight budgets.
"We have many events lined up for the summer and beyond. All those events require large generators to power them. We quote months in advance and all our quotes will have been on last November’s prices. We will have to swallow those costs.
"For us, it means a less profitable year and may slow our expansion slightly, but for some businesses, it could signal the end when they are already struggling. It feels very unstable out there again concerning fuel prices."
Sam is calling on the government to stop fuel prices from going up before it starts becoming a national crisis.
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