‘It’ll help, but it won’t save everything’

A BAKERY and chocolaterie business in Yorkshire was forced to shut shops and lay off 20 staff because of the delay in government support.

Louise Costello, 40, who owns Costello’s with her husband Jamie, 44, both pictured, said the energy price cap will save them £2,000 per month.

But this was too late to save their three shops in Malton, Driffield and Wetherby, which they closed this summer after their total energy bill rose from £1,600 to £9,000 per month.

The couple laid off 20 of their 25 staff, and have battled to rebuild the business by selling their goods online and developing a new base of wholesale customers. Mrs Costello said this year had been the toughest in the business’s 24-year history as rising costs have collided with families cutting spending.

She added: ‘In the last three months we’ve really struggled with the increase in energy bills. We’d have liked to have had this help sooner.’