New research has been published which shows that more than half of the micro-businesses in the UK are noticing the rising costs of energy. The survey that has been carried out by Censuswide and involved 502 micro-businesses across 12 different regions in the UK. The businesses that included restaurants, pubs, hairdressers and many more have noticed the rising energy costs and feel that they could damage their future prospects.
The survey was commissioned by Utilita Energy and was commissioned in order to be released alongside Independent retailer Month. The results of the survey were published on the 3rd of July and shows that 57% of Britain’s pubs cafés and restaurants think that the rising energy costs are seriously damaging their future with 29% forced to pay a higher tariff because they are considered to be a credit risk.
Worryingly, 7% of those asked have said that they have been cut off because of missing a payment, meaning. This trend continues as some are asked to pay significantly large amounts up front.
Because of the success that they have seen on the domestic market and as a result of the survey that has been carried out, Utilita have announced that they are developing a single tariff, flexible payment option for clients with no upfront delivery costs. Their launch into the commercial market will be helpful for the independent businesses that are experiencing problems with energy companies. There will also be a pay-as-you-go meter solution prepared for customers that are caught out with cash flow problems.
It is important to make sure that independent businesses are not priced out by utility companies, and hopefully the concept that is being launched by Utilita will prove successful and may even encourage other companies to launch similar schemes to give businesses a better chance of surviving.
