The new scheme has been introduced by the government, which says the current offering is unaffordable, while acknowledging that some price support would still be needed after March, when the EBDS ends.
Designed to offer discounts to eligible businesses, the new Energy Bills Relief Scheme (EBRS) is based on usage. However BIRA has highlighted that based on the government’s own calculations, the current scheme provides a typical small retail store with £6,400 of support with energy bills. Under the new scheme, this would drop to £400.
BIRA ceo Andrew Goodacre said: “The chancellor said he wanted to avoid a cliff edge in terms of energy support. But it looks as if he has replaced the cliff edge with a ‘death slide’.
“Last year we saw energy bills for indie retailers increasing by 500%; £15,000 – £20000 more than usual. These businesses will now have another £6,000 per annum of costs to deal with, at a time when consumer spending has fallen and other costs are set to increase.
“The burden on small retailers is set to increase significantly again. Treasury will refer to the extra retail discount in business rates, but this was needed to offset the average 10% increase in rateable values following the recent revaluation.
“BIRA believes that more needs to be done to support high street shops with rising energy bills, and we would like to have seen higher discounts offered to those businesses that have reduced energy compared to last year. Not only would this reward and encourage businesses to reduce costs, it would also be a more environmentally friendly solution.”
