Energy crisis could ‘to do more damage to hospitality than Covid’ - say Derbyshire pub and chippy owners as they ask for government help

Skyrocketing energy prices are forcing several hospitality venues to close across the country.

In Derbyshire businesses are facing major struggles as they predict to spend five times more on the bills in the next few months.

Mark Aisthorpe, who runs the Bull's Head pub at Holymoorside said: “The energy crisis has potential to do more damage to hospitality than Covid. Our customers are seeing their leisure budget disappear and as a business one of our biggest overheads is energy so costs quadrupling is just unsustainable.

“The government needs to step in urgently and support the business sector as well as consumers before irreparable damage is down.”

Peter Grafton, owner of Toll Bar Fish and Chips in Stoney Middleton, echoed these calls and said he rang his providers last week to discover gas prices will go up from 4.86p to 20p per unit, while electric will rise from 18.46p to a pound.

Mr Grafron said: “My bills will go up five times from £1,000 a month to £5,000 a month. Where am I going to find an extra £1,000 per week?”

Increasing fish, potato and peas prices are complicating the situation even more.

He said: “It’s been a dry year, so the potatoes are small and their prices have gone up by 60 per cent. In the meantime peas prices have doubled. And following the start of the war in Ukraine, they have put a 35 per cent subsidy on fish.

“Fish, potatoes and peas prices are going through the roof and now gas and electricity are increasing by 500 per cent. A lot of businesses will for sure go bankrupt if there is no help from the government.

“And that’s why I think the government should help, like they did during Covid. They should give grants to cover the increase in managing costs until the price comes back down to save independent shops.”

Mr Grafton plans to keep his chippy open .

He added: “You have to be positive and you have to come out the other side, you can't give in. We might not earn a lot of money, but we can't let our customers down so we will stay open.

“I just hope that customers understand why we have to keep putting prices up. But you can't put the prices up and then not pay your staff more. That's not fair. How can my staff do their shopping and pay their bills if I don't put their wages up?”

Chris Ionnides, owner of Chesters in Chesterfield, has been struggling with increasing energy prices for almost a year now and is worried about another surge this autumn.

Last October Chester’s electric bill went up from £15,000 to £40,000 a year and gas from £10,000 to £30,000 during the same time.

Chris said: “The situation is really bad at the moment. We obviously can't reflect this price increase on our fish and chips. We would have to sell a piece of fish for £11 pounds. But can we realistically do it? No, because no one would come and buy it anymore.

"On top of all that, fish and oil are getting more expensive. We used to pay £10 for vegetable oil and now we are paying £36.”

Chris is planning to open a new business at Markham Vale and has even paid over £20,000 to the council to start the new business, but rising energy prices have forced him to delay his plans.

He said: “ We have rung around all the big energy suppliers like British Gas, E.ON, Gazprom, and nobody's willing to give any new businesses gas or electric because they haven't got the supply.

“The only companies that we've managed to get a quote from, are smaller companies like Haven power, and just alone for electric for the new business they quoted £160,000 a year.

“At that price, we won't be opening the business until it drops because we just won't be making any profit. We'll be working at a loss.

Chris believes that the local council and the government should do more to support small and medium businesses.

He said: “We are going to write to the local MP because it's disgusting how they're treating businesses at the moment. It's like they just don't care. We are left alone and there's no help out there. Obviously, there is the energy cap for households. But where's help for businesses?

“Many businesses, especially in this trade, are closing their doors each day. And in the end, the government will find that with no help given and such greed from the energy companies, they will lose the revenue from smaller businesses completely, because they will not survive.

“The government seems to push it to the side as we've just got to carry on with what is virtually impossible, unless you're willing to work at a loss.

“And that's what we're doing at the moment to keep our staff in jobs. We're working at zero profit to keep our doors open at the moment. And we will continue to do this whilst we can, but how long will small companies around the country be able to do that without the government stepping in?”