Firms plead for action as costs spiral

Pressure on businesses from energy pricing is mounting yet again.

Conditions were already uncomfortable for our firms. Stresses have been high since the last election and, at the end of last year, 65 per cent of UK businesses said they were concerned about energy costs.

Cost hikes through National Insurance and minimum wage policies are also in play – all superheated by President Trump’s latest folly.

Warnings across the economy of tipping points must be heeded, not brushed off.

Westminster says businesses hedge against energy prices. To a point. At any given moment at least a fifth of businesses are facing energy contract renegotiations, and the longer this continues the more firms face the abyss, with prices rocketing
and standing charges doubling.

The logistics sector is under pressure; hospitality firms are underwater.

Homeowners have price caps to offer some protection, but that doesn’t help if their employer has to make redundancies.

The wider call should be for a commitment to UK energy self-sufficiency, based on renewables.

This would offer real security, and we need a long-term cross-party plan to achieve it and buffer against global fragility.

For now, SMEs need consideration from Government; an understanding of the cliff edge and the need to stabilise and support.

So let’s flex some Government muscle, show some nerve, and fight for the UK’s
business community and economy.

We shouldn’t need to ask. It should be a given.