A furious Keswick B&B owner says he will have no choice but to put up his prices after falling foul of the Government’s energy price cap deadline.
And Paul Brannen, who runs The Rowan Tree guesthouse on Eskin Street, says other small businesses in his position could go to the wall as they struggle to pay their bills this winter.
In March this year, in the face of soaring global energy prices, Paul was obliged to sign a contract with his electricity supplier for 30p per KW.
On April 1, the Government launched its Energy Bill Relief Scheme. Starting this month it will cut the wholesale cost on all commercial energy contracts – but only for businesses who signed after the April start date.
It means Paul is now locked into his higher rate for at least the next six months.
“The extreme price rises in energy began nearly a year ago,” he said. “And when our energy supply contracts came up for renewal we were forced, along with many other businesses, to sign up to much higher gas and electric supply costs long before April 1,
“Our contract for 30p per KW would qualify for the discount – but it doesn’t because the deal was done in March, before the deadline, so we won’t be getting any help.
“We are not the only ones affected by this seemingly arbitrarily chosen date. Many other businesses are paying a hell of a lot more and won’t be getting any help whatsoever.”
Paul, a former heating engineer, has now contacted his local MP, Trudy Harrison, now a Government minister, demanding to know the thinking behind the Government’s decision – but is still waiting for an answer.
Meanwhile he says he and his wife Anne, who have run the Rowan Tree since 2015, may have to take drastic steps to offset the pain of this winter’s bills.
“Our business will survive, but we’re looking at increasing our prices by 10 per cent and possibly offering breakfast-only deals,” he said. “It’s the last thing we want to do, but we don’t have a great deal of choice.
“Other small businesses like ours might not be so lucky – and all because of an arbitrary date, dreamt up by the Government, which makes no sense. They say they are helping all businesses affected by the extreme costs of energy, but they’re not.”
