HIGH ENERGY PRICES CRIPPLE THE HOSPITALITY SECTOR

The cost of living crisis and high inflation has played a fundamental role in the closure of almost 4,600 licensed hospitality premises over the year to March 2023. The information compiled by industry experts at GCA by NIQ and AlixPartners shows the impact of high energy prices.

The data shows that closures have decreased since March 2022 but still this equates to 12.6 closures each day during this time.

A major factor of those closures must go down to the pressure being placed on the business owners and soaring energy prices being incurred.

High energy bills has been the major cause for so many closures in the hospitality sector

An article on the beertoday.co.uk website talks about the damage being inflicted on business owners and especially those operating in the hospitality sector.

Back in March of this year Ofgem were being encouraged to intervene in any way possible to support the hospitality sector and protect them from further hardship with ever increasing energy tariffs.

In a letter to Grant Shapps MP, secretary of state for Energy Security and Net Zero, UKHospitality made it quite clear that Ofgem needed to take suppliers to task for their unscrupulous behaviour towards hospitality.

Also in an article in the shares magazine and sourced by Alliance News it writes about the burden placed on UK pubs, bars and restaurants having to face average bill increase of around 81% over the past year as firms continue to plead for support from the government.

The trade bodies have also shown concern and believe that more hospitality venues will cease trading unless cost pressures ease soon.

Soaring energy prices have created chaos for many businesses in the industry

In a statement, the organisations expressed their worry for the future. They said: ‘The energy crisis has been pushing pubs, bars and restaurants to breaking point for a year now.

‘The Energy Bill Relief Scheme provided a short respite but with that falling away last month businesses are back to paying high costs, with no end in sight for the thousands locked into contracts who will be obligated to pay extortionate rates well into next year.

‘Put simply, this data is extremely worrying for thousands of otherwise viable hospitality businesses.

‘No profits means nothing to invest back into businesses, no cash reserves means nothing to fall back on, and businesses being forced to close means important, irreplaceable assets being lost from local communities and economies across the country forever.

Tom Kerridge speaking to BBC 5 Live's Nihal Arthanayake about the impact of increased energy prices

‘The government must recognise this crisis isn’t just crippling businesses now.

‘Left unresolved it will have a lasting wider impact long into the future, impacting local employment, supply chains and removing essential community hubs from villages, towns and cities across the whole of the UK.’

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Energy Saving Management (reducemybills.ltd)

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