British Chambers of Commerce urges Sunak to help businesses facing rising costs
The British Chambers of Commerce has called on Rishi Sunak to help businesses facing rising energy costs as it warns of a “cost of doing business” crisis.
BCC director general Shevaun Haviland today urged the chancellor to scrap the planned rise in National Insurance Contributions for employees and employers next month and to implement an energy price cap for businesses, like what is offered to households.
Haviland wrote in the Mail that “businesses are being crushed under the weight of soaring energy bills, price spikes in every conceivable raw material, and an intensely squeezed labour market”.
She said companies “will go to the wall” if these issues are not addressed.
National Insurance is set to increase by 1.25 percentage points for employers and employees from next month.
It comes as growth in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 5.5 per cent in the 12 months to January – a 30-year-high.
This has been spurred partly by increasing energy costs over the past nine months, which are set to surge even further due to UK and EU sanctions on Russian oil and gas exports.
Haviland said: “We know from speaking to our members that there are two things the chancellor must deliver on Wednesday – he must postpone the National Insurance increase by one year and he must bring forward a temporary SME energy price cap to protect the smallest and most vulnerable businesses from the worst impacts of skyrocketing energy prices.
“If these issues go unaddressed then companies will go to the wall, which will in turn lead to job losses, less choice for consumers and even greater pressure on the cost of living, as prices continue to rise. Many firms are the heartbeat of their local communities, and losing them will only damage the government’s vital levelling up ambitions.
“What these measures will do is give firms a fighting chance of getting through the difficult coming months so that they can come back stronger once conditions have eased.”