Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as BCC demands vital support to UK businesses
Economists demand urgent action on energy bills to avert ‘catastrophe’
Unlike housholds, British companies are not covered by Ofgem’s price cap, so are more exposed to wholesale gas markets.
And that means firms face a “cost of doing business crisis”, ministers have been warned, with many commercial energy bills poised to rise more than fourfold this autumn.
New estimates by consultancy Cornwall Insight show that businesses looking for a new contract this autumn will have to pay more than four times the price they paid for their electricity in 2020.
Paul Wilson, policy director at the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), said the government needed to intervene to prevent thousands of companies from going to the wall. “We don’t have the luxury of waiting any longer . . . winter could spell the end for many businesses and they need help now,” he said.
