COST OF LIVING CRISIS: Burnley coffee shop Little Barista calls for energy price cap for businesses amid fears of five-fold bill increases next month

Managers at Little Barista in Charter Walk, set up by Ali and Andrea Insel six years ago, are worried they will be forced to sack workers as energy bills rise above £3,549 next month.

Alex Sumner, the cafe’s compliance supervisor, says he is also concerned his employees will struggle to cope with a predicted £7,700 bill by April to heat up their homes if they lose their jobs over winter.

The 34-year-old is now calling on the Government to introduce an energy price cap for businesses to help protect people’s jobs.

Alex said: “We’re worried about the January price cap as it could have a knock-on effect on customers as they’ll have less disposable income, which could affect the business. A reduction in customers could mean a reduction in staff, who have their own energy bills to pay for, and they might struggle.”

How much could companies be forced to fork out in energy bills?

The energy price cap will rise to £3,549 for households next month from already record highs. But firms could be shelling out even more than that. Businesses that fixed their energy price for two years from October 2020 will face a five-fold jump in costs in two months’ time, according to analysts Cornwall Insight.

The Government is offering £400 energy payments to households – but businesses are not eligible. There is currently no other support for them.

How will smaller companies like Little Barista cope with rising prices?

Alex said: "At the minute, it’s one of those things we’re just going to have to absorb into the business. We just have to do our best to cope. There’s nothing we can do but I definitely think there should be some form of energy cap for businesses.

“We closed for the pandemic and that had a big impact on staff. We managed to keep them all and after lockdown we partly opened for takeaways only but we only had half of our staff working.

"The Government helped us during lockdown but I don’t think there’s much they can do now other than make the business energy cap. And any support like a grant would be accepted by any type of business.”