Businesses demand government help over energy costs

Westside BID, the organisation that looks after Birmingham's main entertainment sector has joined more than 150,000 businesses from across the UK in urging the government to act over spiralling energy costs.

Westside BID is backing the #BusinessSOS campaign that warns of mass closure and redundancies if immediate and effective action isn 't taken in a crisis that 's proving more detrimental than the pandemic.

The campaign, founded by organisations representing retail, leisure, hospitality and tourism businesses, warns that harm caused by the spiralling energy crisis could cause irreversible damage to UK high streets and the economy.

The #BusinessSOS has devised a three-point-plan to support ailing businesses which includes reducing VAT from 20 to 12.5 per cent at a headline rate, introducing a 100 per cent business rate relief util March 31 2023, and a discounted kwh price on all business energy bills.

Mike Olley, general manager of Westside BID, said: “We fully back this support and demand that the new Prime Minister Liz Truss listens carefully to the three-point plan that could help businesses.

“For the first time in living memory, energy costs are now greater than rent and increasing on a daily basis in the absence of any intervention or price cap since April.

“After surviving the pandemic, it seems ludicrous that the needs of businesses are currently not being heard and could see billions of funding provided during the pandemic go to waste. ”

Matthew Sims, founder of the #BusinessSOS campaign and chief executive of Croydon BID explained that mass closures and redundancies are inevitable without swift government action.

Mr Sims said: “The new prime minister has just days to act. The impending announcement on how the government will tackle the energy crisis facing businesses will either ensure businesses can remain trading or set in motion mass closures and redundancies.

“To say the energy crisis is worse that the pandemic is not an understatement, it is the reality facing businesses today.

“The clock is ticking for the new government to provide clarity and introduce measures providing tangible and immediate relief. ”