Tina McKenzie at FSB said: “It’s disheartening to see a significant proportion of small firms could be forced to close, downsize or radically restructure their businesses just when we look to grow our economy. It is calling on energy firms to automatically allow small firms the option to extend their fixed contracts at a rate between their original fixed rate and the current, lower wholesale rate. The FSB’s data shows a large proportion of the struggling firms are from the accommodation and food sector (28%) and the wholesale and retail sector (20%). The FSB says that businesses have now reverted back to paying the peak prices they were charged last year, which could be three or four times more than they paid when the Relief Scheme was in place.Īround 42% of all the firms that fixed contracts in the latter part of last year say it has been impossible for them to pass on costs to customers, who are already struggling with soaring prices. This follows a cut in government support to businesses last month, as the Energy Bill Relief Scheme was replaced with the Energy Bills Discount Scheme (see 30 March update). More than 700,000 small firms fixed their energy contracts between 1 July and 31 December last year, and 13% of this group (93,000) are now faced with needing to downsize, restructure or close due to not being able to keep up with their energy costs, says the FSB. It says failure to alleviate business expenses will feed through to higher household bills and result in business failures. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is calling on energy firms to offer small businesses tariffs that reflect today’s wholesale energy prices, as it says hundreds of thousands of companies are trapped in fixed deals based on prices which soared in the last half of 2022, writes Candiece Cyrus. Latest information on the cost of living crisis as it affects households and individuals across the UKĩ May: Knock-On Effect Of Closures Will Force Prices Higher Household Finances: Small Businesses Fear Energy Costs Will Feed Inflation While we work hard to provide accurate and up to date information that we think you will find relevant, Forbes Advisor does not and cannot guarantee that any information provided is complete and makes no representations or warranties in connection thereto, nor to the accuracy or applicability thereof. The compensation we receive from advertisers does not influence the recommendations or advice our editorial team provides in our articles or otherwise impact any of the editorial content on Forbes Advisor. These “affiliate links” may generate income for our site when you click on them. Second, we also include links to advertisers’ offers in some of our articles. This site does not include all companies or products available within the market. The payments we receive for those placements affects how and where advertisers’ offers appear on the site. This comes from two main sources.įirst, we provide paid placements to advertisers to present their offers. To help support our reporting work, and to continue our ability to provide this content for free to our readers, we receive payment from the companies that advertise on the Forbes Advisor site. The Forbes Advisor editorial team is independent and objective.
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