A Belfast chip shop owner has said he's feeling 'terrified' about the months ahead as his energy bills hit over £4,000 a month.
As the global energy crisis deepens, David Thacker, who runs The Chippy on the Shankill Road, has seen his energy bills skyrocket as tariffs continue to rise.
It comes as the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) in Northern Ireland said energy bills this autumn and winter may be “the final nail in the coffin” for many.
Read more: NI restaurant owner warns of extreme worry as energy bill nears £100,000 a year
Former optician, David, 55, has built up a successful business over the past 18 years.
"At the moment, we're still pretty much as busy as ever but even though I've had to increase my prices recently, we're not lifting any more money," David told Belfast Live.
"The costs of goods have doubled and tripled in some cases but I haven't done that with my prices - it's just an extra 50p here and 20p there.
"The customers can see what's happening and so they are changing their orders to trim it to the amount they had in mind to spend. When we've done the new price list, everything else goes up again and we're back to square one."
He added: "My energy bills for electric and gas combined would normally have been between £1,000 and £1,200 a month a year ago but this month it was up to £4,200.
"I did have quite a mini stroke when I read that figure. I have thought about changing my current provider but I'm tied into my contract with GO Power until January 2023.
"My next bill is due in the middle of this month and I'm expecting it to be around the same amount but that's only part of the costings when you consider VAT rates.
"Plus the price of chicken fillets has gone from £28 a box to £50; fat is up from roughly £20 a box to £43, sausages are up by a third. A year to 18 months ago, it was about £92 for 3 stone of fish. We now get slightly less than 3 stone for £217," he added.
When asked how he feels about his energy bills for this winter, David replied: "I'm marginally terrified because unless the government steps in with some sort of Covid-style financial help, I'm prepared to basically earn nothing for the next six or nine months.
"I'm taking home not enough to cover my bills and less than what my manager of the shop earns because the money is just ploughed back into keeping the business going.
"If in six or nine months time, the situation hasn't improved or the government hasn't come through, it's scary biscuits. I should be one of the few who could continue but it's a lonely place on the high street.
"There are four chippies on the Shankill Road - one has shut, another is shutting and the other has started to close at least one day a week.
"I'll trade it through because I'm not going to throw away 18 years of hard work if I can help it. I owe it to my staff, who have been very loyal and with me, in some cases, for 10 years or more."
Roger Pollen, Head of FSB Northern Ireland, said his organisation is being contacted by many businesses on a daily basis, with detailed stories of similar staggering cost increases.
“There has been a lot of focus on the ‘cost of living’ crisis, but upstream of that is the ‘cost of doing business’ crisis. If we don’t solve that, those costs will quickly affect consumers and employees," he said.
“SMEs in Northern Ireland employ around 60% of all workers so the government must make serious interventions to keep smaller businesses afloat because if they don’t, we will simply watch as those employers sink.
“FSB has called on every layer of government to step up and play its part: Westminster, to reduce VAT, fuel duty, and employment costs; Stormont to use the existing Small Business Rate Relief Scheme to distribute emergency assistance of the sort planned for households; and local councils to pay their SME suppliers promptly so as to assist with their cash flow.
“Some of the increases in costs reported by our members are truly eye-watering, so we need concerted action from every quarter.
“Aside from government support, and energy saving measures that the businesses themselves can take, there has never before been a time when the importance of shopping local can make the difference between solvency and closure.
“The power to assist also lies with consumers; we urge people to use it well.”
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