Is it real or scaremongering?

[girlfrien]

Do you really think small businesses and pubs will shut down because of electricity prices?
Was on the news yesterday about Pubs?
Do you think it will really come to it?

I'm not sure where you've been, but it's already happening. Our town has already had a few well loved businesses shut because they can't afford it anymore. The food bank I volunteer for can't keep up with the demand. Even a school has been forced to stop their wraparound services. It's only going to get worse and the government gives no shits about the general public.

It's real. Unless the government sorts itself out sharpish and does something to help a lot of small businesses, pubs, potentially even care homes, will close. It's like watching a car crash in slow motion 😞

A local couple have been in the news because they are giving back their pub tenancy. A local pub has decided to close the kitchen on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. We're in the South, in an area regarded to be fairly affluent.

We're all doomed

Pubs, Cafes and Restaurants have always had a bigger failure rate than other businesses and will be hit earlier and harder. I would not be surprised if tens of thousands have to close with the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs. It was happening before Covid and these energy hikes. In 2019 there were 47,200 pubs in the UK, 13,600 less than in 2000 and the rate of closures is increasing alarmingly. Data from the British Beer and Pub Association suggests only 37% of hospitality businesses are currently profitable.

Independents are probably most at risk, but chains and big names also fail - Jamie's Italian closed 22 of 25 restaurants in May 2019 with the loss of 1000 jobs, and around half of Gordon Ramsay's openings have closed along the way.

Of course it's real. My town has lots of lovely independent shops, most of which managed to hang on through covid - but three have closed down in the last couple of weeks. Speaking to other independent shops in the town, they are all worried about this winter. There is no cap on energy prices for businesses, and costs are already soaring.

Support your local businesses where you can!

A. Pmpany I know of used to pay £10,000 a year for electricity. It’s is now £55,000 a year. She thinks they will have to close

That should have said company

How will Labour correct this? There isn’t enough gas for Europe. Changing from Blue Team to Red Team does nothing to address this.

Absolutely! If the energy prices have risen 4 or 6 times what they were. Businesses are not protected with the cap like household consumers are.

Even if they put £1 on every item it still probably wldnt be enough. Add to this that people will be cutting down and the first thing that u cut down is meals out and pub going!

A local garage that I know posted on Facebook that their electric bill had gone from £2k to over £8k a year. They obvs have to pass it on so prices on their labour will be higher as well as parts due to inflation. Everything is going to be so expensive!

So many small businesses will not cope think ur local takeaway. I saw on news one local takeaway that has now closed. They want to put their bill up from £8k a year to over £60k. Even if they doubled the price of everything it still wldnt be enough so very sad that was a business that had been going for 40+ yrs!

It's not scaremongering, it's already happening!
I went into the city centre this morning to run some errands and was really struck by how many empty shops there are now, businesses are closing and nobody can afford to take over the leases so they're just sitting empty.

My hairdresser just put their prices up due to increased electricity bills. The owner is now very worried as so many clients have said they can't afford to pay any more as their own bills have gone up so they will be colouring their hair themselves or going less often. What is a small business supposed to do to survive in that situation? They're damned if they do and dammed if they don't.

There isn't enough gas so invest in weaning us off gas and borrow against the future when you can sell the results of your investment ( in renewable electricity, green hydrogen and clean water ) around the world

Long term thinking to solve the short and long term problems we face

Whoever the new PM is next week, will now after weeks of us being told to wait for their appointment has the opportunity to be the saviour of the country and sort out support for all (including people who aren’t on benefits).

In a normal country a PM who fails to combat an issue like this would be absolutely crucified in the next general election. In this country, people will probably vote them in with an even larger majority.

Various solutions have been proffered even by the energy companies. Seems to be falling on deaf ears as far as the gov is concerned. They’ll probably cut VAT which will be a couple of hundred quid a year and see how bad the backlash is before doing more.

Ach - a VAT cut helps people who have more to spend on optional stuff A- it helps the rich - so yes that's probably on the cards

My local pub has announced it is closing Monday - Wednesday from 1 October. It is large and open plan and I can imagine that it will be expensive to heat this winter.

Yes, loads. The pandemic shut down all the soft play centres near us. Now all our local pubs have stopped serving food (combination of cooking energy costs and problems getting staff). It doesn’t seem a big step to the oh s shutting down completely, all it takes is the owner to conclude that they’d make a better living doing something else.

When it's being said that pubs will put the price of a pint up to £14 plus, it's hardly surprising that they will close. Who can afford that? Two pints costing almost £30!
Accordingly 70% of UK pubs are facing closure.
I've just been in my local shop, who have a four pack of Heinz beans prices at £4.85! Who is going to pay that?
The UK is sadly returning to 1979 with inflation and sky high prices.
Then we will be back on the merry go round of job losses = lack of local spending = businesses closing and further job losses = further lack of local spending.
Repossession of both homes and businesses will rise.
Rinse and repeat.
Once again, the rich will get richer while the poor get poorer.
The answer? I have absolutely no idea.

Of course it would. There would still be limited resources but those resources would be shared more fairly and equally. Do you not understand very basic politics?

I remember the the Specials song Ghost Town years ago which was about this and the economic situation at the time. Seems similar now. Things never change.

Tory party then wasn't it?

Proper deja vu eh

It's already happening.

Lots of businesses and public premises are not covered by a cap.

Therefore their bills are increasing even more.

Some businesses are reporting rises from £1000 to £4000 a month already and we haven't hit the worse according to forecasting.

Local pub in my area has just announced it's closing because of energy prices.

Schools and hospitals are public services.

Businesses are generally private enterprises.

Schools and hospitals will rack up massive debt and I've no doubt the Tory's will use it as an excuse to privatise more nhs and create more academies. It actually suits their agenda.

Beer prices will go up a lot here from September, because of the cost of wheat and lack of glass bottles. I’m guessing it will affect pubs.

THIS! Unless you run a top restaurant, margins in local places are often low. There is a limit to what people will pay for a pint in a local pub or an Indian meal at their local.