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Earlier this month, the Government announced it would reduce energy support for businesses from Saturday 1 April.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt detailed the new Energy Bill Discount Scheme, set to replace the Energy Bill Relief Scheme when it expires in March, which will see non-domestic energy customers receive discounts on wholesale prices.
Firms paying higher energy costs will see a unit discount of up to £6.97/MWh automatically applied to their gas bill and a discount of up to £19.61/Mwh applied to their electricity bills.
New scheme changes
However, the new scheme, which is planned to run until Sunday 31 March 2024, will not apply to those paying lower energy prices.
Moreover, the continuing rail strikes are also hampering the sector’s recovery with trade body UKHospitality labelling sector sites as “collateral damage”.
A previous poll by The Morning Advertiser revealed trade was mixed during the Christmas period.
While 43% of the 115 participants said it was worse than expected, 38% reported better trade than anticipated with the remaining one fifth (18%) receiving the level of trade they expected.
Christmas trade
Furthermore, data from the latest Coffer CGA Business Tracker showed hospitality enjoyed its best December in three years but real-term sales were behind pre-Covid levels.
According to the research, Britain’s leading managed pub, bar and restaurant groups’ like-for-like December sales were 15% ahead of December 2021 when festive trading was hit by the Omicron variant of Covid. However, sales were only 2% ahead of December 2019, and after adjustments for double-digit inflation, they are significantly behind.
It showed this festive period was particularly strong for pubs, where like-for-like sales finished 19% ahead of December 2021 as concerns about Covid eased and the football World Cup drove fans into venues.
