Businesses will face a 20 percent loss once the Energy Bill Relief Scheme comes to an end in March, according to the British Beer and Pub Association.
As the Energy Bill Relief Scheme will end in a few months, restaurants and pubs across the UK will face the impacts of rising energy costs. Due to the lack of adequate financial support, these eateries may face losses and eventually shut down.
According to a British Beer and Pub Association report, published by Frontier Economics, restaurants and pubs would be at a 20 percent loss if the energy bills returned to their regular rate by April 2023.
There is a lot of uncertainty for businesses as the Energy Bill Relief Scheme comes to an end in March 2023. Once the relief scheme comes to an end, restaurants and pubs will find it difficult to meet basic rates and hence could run into losses.
An employee at Trinity in Harrow said: “The energy costs take up to 19 percent of our expenses. We are not sure how we would sustain in these high costs and do not know what the future holds for our pub.”
The FIFA world cup fever is everywhere and many people go to pubs to watch the matches. When asked if the World Cup crowd has helped them meet their costs, they said: “There are surely more customers coming in, especially in groups, but there is not a lot of difference. We are still facing the same difficulties and however, the World Cup will end soon.”
At the Trinity, on a day-to-day basis, they keep a check on their energy usage and make sure none of the appliances is left on unnecessarily. “We try to control in all the ways possible for us.”
In an interview with The Guardian, Tim Black, Frontier Economics associate director, said: “ “Our analysis shows the pub and brewery sector is facing a combination of surging costs – primarily energy but also raw materials and wages – and falling demand, as consumers reduce their spending in the face of severe cost of living pressures.”
Restaurants and pubs will now require a guarantee that the energy costs would be reasonable for them. They will need the assurance that they have a way around the increasing energy costs instead of shutting down.