Trade Body Leader Calls For Action On Business Energy Prices

A trade body leader has said the lack of clarity with regards to subsidies on businesses energy bills is totally unacceptable. The government has introduced a price cap for households, but not as yet for businesses, and this is causing a great deal of anxiety in the business community. Uncertainty is one of the worst things for companies to deal with as they cannot put any concrete plans in place until they have some detail as to what help they are going to receive.

Families Have Even Less Disposable Income Which Will Impact Hospitality And Retail

Speaking to the Belfast Newsletter from the Tory Party Conference, Retail NI chief executive Glyn Roberts said on this subject:

“At this stage we don’t have any clarity. As a trade body, we haven’t received any communication from government about timelines or how, in detail, how this will work. That is just unacceptable. “

He continued: “We are in an even more serious situation now because we have a mortgage crisis as well. That means families will have even less disposable income, which will have its impact on hospitality and retail — of that there’s no doubt. It’s an even more acute situation now, so we do need to get all of this tied down.

“It’s one of the reasons I’m at the Conservative Party conference, where I’m meeting ministers and engaging with MPs on this subject.”

Pressing To Get The Business Rates Holiday Introduced

He added: “We’re also pressing to get the business rates holiday reintroduced because I think that could certainly provide direct support to many of our members who are struggling.

“Cashflow is getting to be an even more acute situation. It is very hard. If you are going to have big jumps in your energy bill, how do you budget for something like that. It adds uncertainty on to uncertainty. It’s not just a cost of living crisis, it’s a cost of doing business crisis”.

Let us hope that Glyn Roberts can rattle a few cages at the Conservative Party Conference and bring back some positive news that the government are going to act with haste on this issue and bring some clarity and hope to the business community in Northern Ireland.

That is it for our blog today, in the meantime if you do happen to have any accountancy issues please get in touch with the WHR Accountants team by ringing us on 028 3752 2909.