MP COLUMN: Our small businesses are facing a huge crisis

Small businesses are the backbone of our economy in providing most jobs and so many valued services.
Mary Glindon, North Tyneside MP.Mary Glindon, North Tyneside MP.
Mary Glindon, North Tyneside MP.

Sadly, many suffered badly throughout Covid and some went to the wall.

As we begin to live with Covid, just as we do with flu, we need government action to help struggling businesses facing extra challenges due to the cost of living crisis.

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Mr Singh, the co-owner of Sidhu’s, a famous and award winning fish and chips shop for over two decades in Battlehill and Wallsend, recently contacted me to detail the problems they are facing which are pretty typical for many others.

He is specifically concerned about the sharp increases in the price of frying oil and of fish, the latter having soared by nearly two-thirds.

But, he says, even more drastic than this is the price of utilities. Gas and electric prices are at an all-time high. There is no cap on utility prices for the private sector.

Their current energy bill is about £17,000 although they have invested heavily in energy-saving devices such as motion sensors and timers. That hefty bill could almost treble in what he understandably calls a ticking timebomb.

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He suggests a cap on such utility costs for small businesses and grants to introduce green measures like solar panels.

Armed with this real life plea, I raised the issue in the Commons with the business minister.

I told him that businesses such as Sidhu’s chippies had pinned their hopes on the Chancellor reducing VAT to 12.5% but were disappointed.

I expressed the fear that Sidhu’s are now going to be pushed to the brink and asked for action to help Sidhu’s and other businesses that have served their local communities for decades but now cannot guarantee jobs and services into the future.

The minister had a few warm words but that amount to a flash in the pan and don’t fully address the huge problems faced by our local fryers and so many crucial small businesses.

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