The butcher, the baker, the candle-stick maker: The rising costs are crushing us
The price of doing business climbs for nine out of ten shops in costs crisis
Nine out of 10 High Street shops have seen the price of doing business soar under the mounting pressure of the cost-of-living crisis, according to the Federation of Small Businesses.
The rise in costs for retailers comes as the number of people visiting shops in April remained 14.8% lower than that of April 2019, before the Covid pandemic struck.
Last week official figures showed the number of Britons buying less food due to soaring inflation has increased over the past month, putting more pressure on stores.
The FSB is now urging Scots to support their High Streets by shopping locally.
Its public affairs chief, Stuart Mackinnon, said: “The cost-of-living crisis means that many consumers are counting every penny. That is why it is so important when people are choosing where to spend their money, they should choose local businesses on their doorstep.”
Businesses are not protected by rising costs as much as households are, due to the price cap not being applied to them, meaning local companies are crumbling under energy costs.
The FSB is now urging the government to protect smaller businesses, which do not have the same buying power as larger companies.
Andrew Mcrae, FSB policy chair for Scotland, said: “Local firms and local authorities will be crucial to building both momentum in the recovery and resilience for future challenges. Councils can get behind firms on their doorstep by spending more with them. Councillors can drive diversity back in the local economy by backing local entrepreneurs.”
Figures released earlier this month by the Scottish Retail Consortium showed a 14.8% fall in shop footfall in April compared to April 2019, worse than the UK decline of 13.1%. In shopping centres the fall was even steeper, at 20%.
A new cost of living survey, released by the Office for National Statistics on Friday, found that 41% of adults reported cutting back on their grocery shop between April 27 and May 8 due to rising costs.
About 88% of adults have reported a rise in their cost of living over the past month, the ONS said. The survey said the rising cost of living was primarily driven by more expensive food, with 92% of people reporting an increase in the price of their food shopping.
Meanwhile, a report by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) last week warned that 1.5 million households across the UK would struggle to pay for their food and energy bills.
It also warned that more than 250,000 households would “slide into destitution” next year, pushing the total number in extreme poverty to about 1.2 million.
This comes as more pressure is being put on the Government to deliver an emergency summer mini-budget, amid fears a drop in consumer spending will push the UK economy into a recession.
SNP Westminster Treasury spokeswoman Alison Thewliss said: “The new report by the NIESR makes for grim reading – with stark
warnings that 1.5 million households will struggle to pay for their food and energy bills and around a further quarter of a million households at risk of sliding into destitution.“
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the UK’S recovery was being disrupted by the war in Ukraine and other global challenges.