London, UK: One in four small businesses would have to shut down, shrink, or restructure if the government does not extend energy bill support for small businesses beyond the potential 31 March cliff edge, according to the Federation of Small Businesses.
The federaton warns that discontinuing government energy support at the end of March would force tens of thousands of small firms to close or downsize.
This comes ahead of the publication of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme review, which is due imminently – when the government will decide whether current energy support for small firms will continue after the six-month coverage ends.
The latest Federation of Small Businesses research shows that one in four small firms (24%) plan to close, downsize or restructure if energy relief comes to a sharp end at the end of March next year.
The warning came as Chancellor Jeremy Hunt told LBC radio that support for businesses would continue after the cut-off point, with an announcement expected on a fresh wave of energy bill help “very shortly”.
Hunt told LBC: “I can reassure people that we will be continuing with support.”
However, press reports suggest that the Treasury is considering keeping universal support for all businesses because of the complexity around deciding which groups should get the support – but at a lower level. One alternative under consideration is to continue with a low-level universal scheme while giving more support to vulnerable sectors such as energy-intensive industries.
The Cold Chain Federation is urging government to continue allocating energy bill relief to cold chain facilities beyond the current Energy Bill Relief Scheme.
Tom Southall, policy director, said: “Our evidence has demonstrated to government that the temperature-controlled storage and distribution of food and pharmaceuticals is critical national infrastructure, and that these operations are energy-intensive in their nature.”
