By Nicholas Earl
Yü Group has urged the Government to ensure SMEs are fully included in support packages this winter, and that their key role in the economy is factored into all decisions made by Downing Street.
A spokesperson for the retail business supplier told City A.M.: “Yü Group welcomes the support announced by the government, which will help businesses through what would have undoubtedly otherwise been a very difficult winter. We encourage the government to keep in mind the essential role that SMEs play as the backbone of the UK economy as and when further decisions are made.”
Earlier today, the Government rolled out its Energy Bill Relief Scheme, which will provide a discount on wholesale gas and electricity prices for all non-domestic customers for six months over the winter.
This includes not just all UK businesses, but also charities and the public sector such as schools and hospitals.
The announcement came ahead of the Government’s mini-budget, will be delivered to the House of Commons on Friday.
To administer the support, the Government has set a Supported Wholesale Price – expected to be £211 per MWh for electricity and £75 per MWh for gas, less than half the wholesale prices anticipated this winter – which is a discounted price per unit of gas and electricity.
This is for businesses thart have signed new contracts from energy from April onwards.
However, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has warned thousands of small companies are at falling through the cracks of the Government’s energy bills support scheme .
It noted that companies may have signed contracts at high prices before April meaning the package would not be eligible for them while others have been pushed into difficulty by energy costs since then.
It has called for a “hardship fund” to be set up to help businesses ineligible under the scheme or still struggling with costs.
Tim McKenzie, policy and advocacy chair at the FSB, said: “For all businesses that fall outside the scope of today’s support, or where the help is insufficient for the business to be viable, we urge Government and energy providers to introduce a discretionary funding pot, similar to the £150m created for those households who don’t pay council tax.”
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