Please kindly sign this petition for engery price cap on small businesses.

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I co-manage a restaurant that I've worked in for nearly 30 years, started as a KP, a couple of days ago I was looking at our energy contract end dates, in particular our gas one as it's one of our larger engery bills, we normally pay around 14k per year, our contract ends in February, I rang British Gas to see what it would be renewed at based on the current unit price, 95k!!, absolutely floored me, I've put so much into this business, there is noway we can weather that kind of energy price increase.

Please could you kindly sign and share this petition, I'm not sure what else to do other than write to my local MP which I don't think will do much as he is completely useless.

Archived Petition: Cap energy price increases for small businesses.

Help small businesses in the current climate. My electricity bill alone has doubled in the last two years and is set to increase further. Similar small businesses are experiencing similar issues and will go under if there aren't any supporting provisions laid out.

petition.parliament.uk

 

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Now please don't think I'm being blasé about it all, I'm a sole trader who actually works with small businesses where ultimately I end up with less work if they get less type of thing, but I can't sign that petition because I don't think capping prices (which would still go up anyway) is the right solution for small businesses, well for anybody really.

While I don't disagree with the need for energy prices to be 'corrected' (although you could argue the old prices were too low), capping prices like they do for consumers isn't going to fix the issue imo, not to mention where exactly would you cap it and/or draw a line on what is a 'small business' (essentially someone will always lose out).

You only need to look at consumer oil/electric prices set by ofgen (and now more frequently to make it better for the consumer ..) they set the prices so the energy companies don't lose out and as such any capped pricing for businesses would fall under the same structure at best. If you look at it from that perspective you'd still be seeing your current price roughly triple to around £45k, which while better than 95k is still another £80+ a day (assuming no days off in a year) you'd need to find when your customers have their own financial concerns.

I also don't think it's a long term viable solution, but it might buy us and other businesses some time, also this petition might lead to this being discussed in parliament where by other solutions and ideas might be discussed or brought forward.

Also I certainly don't think energy prices were too cheap considering we was paying 14k per year for gas alone for one restaurant, and a cap @ 45k might just allow us to scrap through until prices lower again.

 

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I totally disagree with this personally

I would much rather see more help to families directly, but everyone is free to have their opinion
Mine is too many service sector eateries, pubs etc for what the demand is going to be considering COL crisis

That's fine, but if our place goes under around 28 famlies are effected, I believe it makes sense to try and keep small to medium businesses afloat when they supply employment to half of the UK.

You say that you believe there is too many service sector eateries, pubs etc, but with these energy prices this isn't just a natural economic cleansing of businesses with a survival of the fittest in mind, we are one of the busied and popular restaurants in our town, we are in high demand, but this energy prices are not feasible to run any 'convectional' eatery/restaurant, these are extenuating circumstances that need intervention.

 

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Out of interest, what is your current unit rate, and what is the unit rate they plan to offer going forward, there must be some rival company who can step in and offer a much better value?

2.9p unit increasing to 27.5p unit, price increase of 13.8k annually to around 100k inc vat.

I'm not sure the public realise these types of un capped increases are hitting small businesses in the UK.

 

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Does anyone have any idea what a cap for business would cost the taxpayer?

For arguments sake let's say they cap it at current domestic rates?

Some industry uses ridiculous amounts. Would be hard to ask tax payers to pay for this.

Really, apart from having no cap I don't really have any concept of how the government would intervene?

The thing is I guess a lot depends on how how long this will go on, if a lot of the hospitality sector and other businesses connected to them, suppliers and manufactures etc all go out of businesses and then we have the cost of mass unemployment, remember half the employment in the UK is from small businesses, 48% of total employment by private sector businesses.

 

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https://twitter.com/x/status/1565293593111273474

Jesus Christ, and I think I've got it bad, 790k!

 

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Really, losing pubs and sandwich shops and eateries is a collapse in society?

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Sadly I think this is what a lot of people think, I quoted a tweet from an MP where a Care Home wrote to him stating that thier energy bill is going from 152k to nearly 800k!, this is not a normal 'bust and boom' recession where a few businesses close.

 

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OP could provide some details on the previous contract duration/rates and new contract rates,
Liverpool council is being managed by govt,amongst other things because they messed up energy renewal and went on the basic rate (per earlier drax comment)

Real large businesses (funny we haven't heard from them) McDonalds, Amazon are safe (don't fear) locked in on fixed green rates with renewable resources&storage power purchase agreements,
its the small busineeses in the cross hairs

I previously provided those details earlier in the thread,

2.9p unit increasing to 27.5p unit, price increase of 13.8k annually to around 100k inc vat.

I'm not sure the public realise these types of un capped increases are hitting small businesses in the UK.

You are correct about the bigger franchises, I'm looking at the possibility of putting our restaurant under the Domino's arm to see if that could help but that is a long shot and not sure if the franchise owner will allow it or if it can be done yet.