Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in the UK are experiencing unprecedented energy bill increases, according to new reports. There has been an increase of more than 250% in gas prices over the past year on average. The combination of rising overheads and a difficult economic environment created by the pandemic and Brexit will make it more difficult for British SMEs to survive.

Worrying Price Increases

Compared with the first three months of 2021, gas bills for British SMEs rose by 250% over the first three months of 2022, according to Cornwall Insight. Furthermore, the UK Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) released figures comparing commercial electricity and gas bills from February 2021 to February 2022. Electricity bills increased 145%, from £4,724.73 to £11,589.89, and gas bills increased 258%, from £1,345.07 to £4,815.36.

FSB has called on the Chancellor to provide relief to small firms as a result of these figures. Unlike domestic customers, businesses have not yet received government support to help manage rising energy bills. Without such strategies, British SMEs face rapidly rising overheads that may impact their survival.

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