For UK businesses, the government’s announcement of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme provides a glimmer of hope that the coming winter may not be as bleak as many expected. Wholesale energy prices for all businesses will be cut by more than 50 per cent, in a bid by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to prevent insolvencies and protect jobs.
The news comes not a moment too soon for UK manufacturing. Faced with soaring energy bills, almost one in six manufacturers described these costs as “business-threatening” in a survey released earlier in the month by industry body Make UK.
Many were already taking action, with some 13 per cent of respondents saying that their business had reduced production for short periods, or was avoiding producing altogether during periods of peak energy prices, and a further 7 per cent saying they were reducing production for even longer periods in the day.
That’s a drastic step to take and it is to be fervently...