Skip to content
Search
AI Powered
Latest Stories

Calls for relief for small firms locked into fixed energy tariffs

Calls for relief for small firms locked into fixed energy tariffs
iStock image
Getty Images/iStockphoto

Thousands of small businesses risk closure or “radical restructuring” after being trapped in crippling fixed energy tariffs, a lobby group has warned, calling on energy suppliers to cut tariffs for small struggling firms as wholesale prices fall.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has urged utility suppliers to allow small firms locked into fixed tariffs from last year to renegotiate contracts to better reflect today’s “significantly lower” wholesale energy prices.


The organisation’s plea comes a month after huge cuts to UK government support on energy bills for businesses. Since April 1, the Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) has been downgraded to the Energy Bills Discount Scheme, which “changes support to pennies that do not touch the sides of huge bills,” the FSB argues.

Hundreds of thousands of small businesses are trapped in sky-high energy contracts after fixing at the market peak.

FSB's latest research indicates that 13 per cent of small businesses fixed their energy bills between July and December last year, with a “significant” number of these operating in the food and retail sector. Of this group, 13 per cent say they could be forced to either close, downsize, or radically restructure their businesses, equating to 93,000 small firms across the UK.

According to the FSB study, a significant proportion of small firms stuck in fixed contracts are from the accommodation and food sector (28 per cent), and the wholesale and retail sector (20 per cent). Some four in ten (42 per cent) small firms that fixed energy contracts in the second half of last year say it has been impossible for them to pass on costs to consumers who had to tighten spending and they cannot afford further price increases amid the cost-of-living crisis.

The small business lobby group is calling on energy suppliers to allow these small firms to extend their fixed contracts but at a blended and lower rate - between their original fixed rate and the current, lower wholesale rate.

Tina McKenzie, policy chair for the FSB, said: “Many small businesses agreed to lock in energy contracts last year to ensure they qualified for the maximum level of government support.

“Now, with that support largely disappearing, they are once again faced with massive energy bill hikes.”

McKenzie added that it was “disheartening” to see that companies could be forced “to close, downsize or radically re-structure” as a result.

“There are signs that small businesses may be about to turn a corner after last year’s downturn. Giving small firms a way out of last year’s market peak rates will accelerate the progress to recovery.”

More for you

A woman enters the Selfridges department store

A woman enters the Selfridges department store on December 13, 2024 in London, England

Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images

Retail faces mixed fortunes in 2025 amid cost pressures, AI opportunities, and high street revival


The UK retail sector is bracing for a challenging but opportunity-filled 2025, according to Jacqui Baker, head of retail at RSM UK. While the industry grapples with rising costs and heightened crime, advancements in artificial intelligence and a revival of the high street offer potential pathways to growth, she said.

Keep ReadingShow less
unsafe soft drinks seized in Southend

Unsafe soft drinks seized in Southend

Photo: Southend-on-Sea City Council

1,100 unsafe soft drinks seized in Southend safety crackdown

Southend-on-Sea City Council officials have secured food condemnation orders from Chelmsford Magistrates Court, resulting in the seizure and destruction of 1,100 unauthorised soft drinks.

The condemned drinks, including Mountain Dew, 7-UP, Mirinda, and G Fuel energy drinks, were found during routine inspections of food businesses across Southend by the council’s environmental health officers.

Keep ReadingShow less
Charity Super.Mkt at Brent Cross Shopping centre in north London

A customer browses clothes inside Charity Super.Mkt at Brent Cross Shopping centre in north London on, December 17, 2024

Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images

Brits kindle Christmas spirit with second-hand gifts

Bursting with customers one afternoon the week before Christmas, a second-hand charity shop in London's Marylebone High Street looked even busier than the upscale retailers surrounding it.

One man grabbed two puzzle sets and a giant plush toy as a present for friends, another picked out a notebook for his wife.

Keep ReadingShow less
Nothing is more important than your Mental Elf

Nothing is more important than your Mental Elf

Lancashire Mind’s 11th Mental Elf fun run was its biggest and best yet – a sell-out event with more than 400 people running and walking in aid of the mental charity, plus dozens more volunteering to make the day a huge success.

The winter sun shone on Worden Park in Leyland as families gathered for either a 5K course, a 2K run, or a Challenge Yours’Elf distance which saw many people running 10K with the usual running gear replaced with jazzy elf leggings, tinsel and Christmas hats.

Keep ReadingShow less
A woman walks past a window display promoting an ongoing sale

A woman walks past a window display promoting an ongoing sale, on December 13, 2024 in London, England.

Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images

Retail sales disappoint before Christmas

UK retail sales rose less than expected in the runup to Christmas, according to official data Friday that deals a fresh blow to government hopes of growing the economy.

Separate figures revealed a temporary reprieve for prime minister Keir Starmer, however, as public borrowing fell sharply in November.

Keep ReadingShow less