FSB: Energy measures don't help Scottish business

Press Releases 3 Feb 2022

The UK Government has launched new support measures to mitigate the impact of rising energy bills for households while the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has raised the base rate to 0.5%.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) in Scotland has warned that smaller firms are under sustained pressure and today’s announcements provide no relief.

Andrew McRae, the FSB in Scotland’s policy chair, said: “The measures outlined by the Chancellor today do nothing to protect local and independent businesses from punishing increases to their energy bills.

“Small businesses aren’t included in the price cap, and don’t have the negotiating power of the biggest firms. That means that Scottish businesses are under the same pressure as households with none of the protections.

“The UK Government is right to help households with rising costs, but Ministers need to extend the support to include smaller firms. And with cash from today’s announcement heading to Holyrood, we’d urge decision-makers in Edinburgh to look at what they can do to help.”

On the interest rate rise, Andrew McRae said: “Over the last two years, we know that thousands of Scottish businesses exhausted their cash reserves and took on debt to survive. Now all of this debt that carries a floating rate is going to become more expensive to service.

“Policymakers should extend the Pay As You Grow initiative to a wider range of government backed loans to make it easier for businesses to manage their debt.

“In Scotland, public bodies need to get their act together and deliver on their promise of covid grants so that firms can pay down some of their debt.”

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