The hospitality sector will be ruined without energy price caps

There will be huge job losses and permanent closures across the industry, which is already on its knees after Brexit and Covid, making the help during the pandemic little more than a sticking plaster, writes Emma Henderson

Who is going to sit in a freezing cold restaurant if it can’t afford to put the heating on as well as the ovens it needs to cook the food? (AFP/Getty)

October will be a very worrying time for everyone in this country, as the energy price cap, set by Ofgem, is rising by unimaginable amounts to more than £3,500 a year per household. It will throw thousands of people into poverty.

But what the government is not talking about is businesses. There is no energy price cap for them. Office buildings use plenty of energy, with lights, computers, fridges, toilets and so on in near-constant use, but one of the worst-affected industries will be the food and hospitality sector – restaurants, takeaways, cafes, pubs, bars and hotels. Many of these businesses use huge industrial fridges, walk-in freezers, multiple industrial cookers and dishwashers, fryers, extractor fans, hot passes, warming ovens, and whatever else I’ve missed out. Most of these appliances use energy all day, and well into the night, too.

Most of them can’t simply be turned off, as having them in constant use is part of the essential running of the business, and how it makes money. Without a fryer, a fish and chip shop cannot cook its literal bread and butter to turn over a living. Large fridges ensure that prepped food is safe to eat. Without hot passes, food will go cold waiting to be plated up, and could end up being binned. Of course, there are some things that can be done, but few corners can be cut when energy is so essential for a business to function.