Bira urges government for clarification on business energy price rise

The British Independent Retailers Association has urged the government to clarify details on their intervention on the energy crisis for businesses following their announcement they would step in last week.

Last Wednesday, Prime Minister Liz Truss announced that businesses would be getting support for the next six months for gas and electricity bills which are due to rise in October.

However with the passing of Queen Elizabeth II there has been no further details for businesses to be able to plan productively to manage their future.

Bira’s CEO Andrew Goodacre urged the government to reveal their plans.

“The latest official GDP estimates that came out yesterday have shown that while the UK economic growth rose in July after shrinking in June, economic indicators are further fuelling concerns that the economy is dipping into a recession as we enter Q3. This makes it even more important for the energy support package for businesses to be clarified. Every day lost makes it harder for businesses to plan their strategy as we approach the busiest time of the year,” he said.

Reacting to the Truss’ announcement last week, Goodacre pointed out that making the energy rate for businesses the same as consumers still imposes a 300 percent increase on energy bills for many businesses, and that will still cause hardship for those business owners.

“We also believe that any review over the next six months should have a broader remit of looking at all business costs. There is limited prospect of prices reducing in six months time, and so we cannot afford to see business rates increase in line with inflation just as this business support comes to an end,” he said at the time.

In a survey conducted at the end of August to Bira members, 65 percent of business owners had said a price rise would force them to reduce the number of staff they had or reduce wages, while 40 percent were considering limiting opening hours, while 23 percent were looking to permanently or temporarily close their business once the proposed price hike came in October.