New analysis shows £10k increase in small-business utility bills

Small businesses will be paying more than £11,000 in electricity bills if the Chancellor does not provide relief in the spring statement, said the Federation of Small Businesses.

The UK’s largest business group has laid bare the impact of spiralling utility and fuel bills on small businesses ahead of the Chancellor’s spring statement this week.

It is calling on the Chancellor to deliver relief for small firms as fuel and energy bills spiral, and with damaging tax rises set to be imposed imminently.

Illustrative analysis from the FSB showed an electricity and gas bill increasing from £4,724.73 to £11,589.89 (+145 per cent) and from £1,345.07 to £4,815.36 (+258 per cent) respectively for a small business in London with commercial premises between February 2021 and February 2022.

The dramatic movement in cost has coincided with petrol and diesel prices hitting record highs in the first few months of this year, according to RAC’s Fuel Watch.

FSB national chair Martin McTague said unless the government intervenes, soaring fuel and utility bills will spell the end for many of the quarter of a million firms that said they are on the brink of collapse.

“When small businesses go under, that sends shockwaves through local communities in the form of lost jobs, reduced investment and damaged consumer confidence,” he said.

“Whether it’s the care home bracing for an even higher tax bill because of the so-called health and social care levy, the electrician facing higher and higher charges to fill up to complete urgent jobs, or the restaurant which, after two years of trading restrictions, is trying to rebound as energy and food prices rocket, small firms right across the piece are in urgent need of support.

“As things stand, firms have no choice but to raise prices to cover overheads – by tackling the cost-of-doing-business crisis, the Chancellor can help end the cost-of-living crisis.

“He can’t control the wholesale cost of gas and oil, but he can control tax policy.

Source Financial Accountant click here to read more.