Norfolk brewer urges government to help small businesses locked into sky-high energy bills
The Federation of Small Businesses is warning pubs could close when the Energy Bill Relief Scheme ends later this week
Last updated 27th Mar 2023
A brewer from Norfolk is calling on the government to help businesses who are locked into sky-high energy bill contract get out of them when prices fall.
It's after the Federation of Small Businesses warned that pubs could close across the country when the Energy Bill Relief Scheme ends later this week.
"We can't keep doing that forever"
David Holliday is the owner of Moon Gazer Ale, based near Fakenham:
"This time last year when prices were getting higher and higher, lots of hospitality businesses locked into a 12 month contract because it didn't looked like the price rises were going to stop.
"So the sensible thing looked to be, let's do a contract at 70/80p a kilowatt. They are now stuck in those contracts and the prices are going to come down in July to significantly below that.
"We're going to be looking at around £12,000 for our energy bills if it's annualised and the prices don't come down.
"Obviously the unknown is where they are going to be in July, but we will be losing in excess of £1,000 a month in support and that needs to be paid for by somebody.
"As a small business, we have been trying to bear the inflationary pressures as much as we can- but we can't keep doing that forever."
"It's great to be busy, but we are making less money"
He told us action is desperately needed:
"We popped out a pub that we hadn't been to for a while, and their prices had gone up £4 or £5 a main meal.
"I spoke to them and they told me they were passing on the energy costs to the customer. That will get worse if the energy support is reduced as they will then need to pass on those costs.
"It seems to be reasonably buoyant out there, at the moment. The consumers are still supporting hospitality, in spite of prices going up - which is good.
"The challenge is they are being busy to go backwards. They are saying it's great to be busy, but we are making less money."
What has the Government said?
A spokesperson said:
"The new scheme strikes a balance between supporting businesses over the next 12 months and limiting taxpayer’s exposure to volatile energy markets, with a cap set at £5.5 billion based on estimated volumes."