Paisley pubs say greedy energy firms will drink their profits dry as energy bills soar

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Paisley’s pubs are fighting for survival as they face “astronomical” energy prices this winter.Businesses across the hospitality sector have told the Express they may not be able to withstand the soaring cost of energy as they try to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.Some outlets are facing price hikes of 700 per cent as electric and gas costs go up next month.Energy regulator Ofgem confirmed last week that gas prices for the average household would increase by 40 per cent to an average of £3,549 per year. Don't miss the latest headlines from around Renfrewshire.

Sign up to our newsletters here. But the cap does not apply to commercial premises.Jacqueline McCaig, from the Old Swan Inn in Smithhills Street, is about to see her gas bill increase seven fold.She said: “My electric deal isn’t up until next year but my gas has just been renewed from 3p per kw to nearly 22p.“It’s absolutely terrifying.“I don’t know how we will get through this.

I’m still repaying debts from covid and now this. Who knows what it will do to our industry.She added: “The government are wasting time doing absolutely nothing and all the current proposals aren’t going far enough.”“The future is very scary”, Jen Sloan from The Cave admitted.“We are going to be struggling big time.

We have just had renewal quotes for our electricity and they are astronomical.“They will be four times what they were last week.“We are going into winter and we have to have the place warm for people coming in but how do we do that 24/7 with the prices the way they are.”Renfre