Don’t forget businesses

LAST week, the regulator Ofgem announced its new domestic energy price cap would rise by an unprecedented 80% in October, taking the average domestic bill in England, Wales and Scotland to £3,549 a year.

It is quite right that there has been so much focus on domestic energy prices and the need for government intervention to help families. But what has attracted far less attention is what energy prices will look like for businesses, which in the UK do not have prices capped.

Cornwall Insight, which provides energy market intelligence and analysis, has estimated that businesses will have to pay more than four times what they were paying in 2020.

Back in January 2022, the FUW warned that the situation for businesses was already dire, with a letter to Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Kwasi Kwarteng highlighting that dairy farmers in Wales were already facing increases in energy costs of up to £1,000 a month.

In July, the FUW launched its Five Point Plan for UK Governments aimed at relieving pressures for farmers, food producers and consumers in the immediate term, while bolstering our food and energy security in ways which reduce the dangers of future exposure to global emergencies.

The plan highlighted the fact that countries across the EU have announced support packages worth hundreds of billions for businesses suffering as a result of massive price rises, and that, by comparison, the support provided in the UK has been negligible.

Our businesses are facing an unprecedented emergency that will add to the woes of consumers and domestic households unless something is done urgently. To mitigate the disaster Sunak and Truss must provide solid and meaningful proposals to support businesses that will be enacted as soon as the leadership race is over.