Quarter of hospitality businesses facing closure due to energy concerns

A quarter of hospitality bosses are considering closure in the next 12 months, according to new research commissioned by digital energy services company, eEnergy.

According to the representative poll of 300 UK business owners and senior executives carried out by Censuswide on behalf of eEnergy, over three quarters have considered reducing opening hours in response to rising energy bills.

There is also concern among business leaders that the long-term effects will have an even greater impact on a sector still recovering from Covid lockdowns and supply chain challenges.

Over 90% of business leaders surveyed said they did not expect energy prices to return to last year’s levels within the next 12 months. In response, 83% said they either had or were considering making redundancies or reducing staff hours to cope with rising prices.

Of the businesses surveyed, a quarter said that introducing better energy efficiency measures was the long-term solution, while nearly a third (29%) called for a government support scheme to be introduced to help the sector.

Harvey Sinclair, CEO of eEnergy, said: “The hospitality and leisure sector has been played a terrible hand over the past two years. Sky-high energy prices have heaped pressure on businesses still reeling from Covid. With many business owners considering redundancies or even closure, solutions are needed now.”