Last week, in an interview with Sky News, Jeremy Hunt pledged the government’s commitment to help families and households in reducing their energy bills. He stated that they are willing to do whatever it takes, following Ofgem’s announcement of the energy bill cap at £2,074 per annum. Although this news has brought great relief to family households, the Federation of Independent Retailers (The Fed) warns that high energy costs still pose a significant threat to many smaller businesses.
The Energy Bills Discount Scheme, which has provided energy relief to businesses until 31 March 2024, will continue to offer some assistance to Fed members to reduce the financial burden of high energy bills in the independent retail sector. However, The Fed believes that more efforts are still essential to help retailers in this challenging time and calls for more support.
The national president of The Fed, Jason Birks, remarked, “Whilst Mr Hunt’s comments may bring relief and hope to households struggling to pay their energy bills, the same relief cannot be found among us retailers. Our members are still struggling to keep their businesses open, and the government is not doing enough to support them during this time. We call upon the Chancellor and the Business Secretary to sit down with retailers to listen to our concerns and take urgent action now to ensure that fluctuating energy costs do not result in businesses being forced to close.”
It is imperative that the government takes more action to alleviate the adverse effects high energy costs have had on small businesses. The Fed urges the government to work with retailers to provide meaningful support and minimize the economic impacts of high energy bills on independent retailers.