Suffolk pub boss quoted £240,000 a year for electricity bill

Analysis by the British Beer and Pub Association has shown that while businesses had benefited from the Government’s energy price guarantee, which capped bills at £2,500 a month, many faced uncertainty when the scheme was due to end in March. 

The report said some pubs may be forced to close and warned energy costs were the ‘biggest threat’ to their viability and ‘would be even more lethal’ when the relief scheme ended. 

Teresa Brinkley, left, landlady of the Bramford Cock with Leon Studd during a Macmillan fund raiser (Image: Bramford Cock)

Teresa Brinkley, landlady of the Bramford Cock, said she had to pay out £500 extra a week on electricity along and said her business was having to cut back on staff in the run up to Christmas and increase the price of beer. 

She said the Government support was not helping because her pub still needed to find double the amount of money to be able to pay the energy bills, while the end of the price guarantee would also have an effect. 

“We have increased our prices on beer as we are having to pay out £500 per week just on electric and obviously we just have to cut back on staff a bit and that will be just before Christmas,” she added. 

But she said bookings over the Christmas period had been ‘good’ although not as many as last year. 

She added: “We have put the price of beer and food up, but we have done so by as little as possible because we don’t want to price ourselves so people don’t come in at all.” 

Steve Lomas, managing director of Deben Inns (Image: Deben Inns)

Steve Lomas, managing director of Deben Inns, which owns seven pubs in the county, said six of the chain’s pubs were ‘somewhat insulated’ from the crisis because they had energy contracts until October 2024. 

However, the seventh, The Ship at Levington, had just ended its contract, which he described as an ‘eye opening experience’ as he was initially quoted a price eight times the previous contract rate as he negotiated a new deal, equating to an electricity bill of £240,000 a year. 

Eventually, he signed a contract costing four times the previous rate. 

“This does qualify for help from the government’s energy relief scheme, however, this still equates to our electricity bill doubling and we have no confirmation that the Government’s help will continue beyond March 2023.  

“Currently I have not seen a downturn in custom or demand and Christmas trade is looking strong but we desperately need some longer-term decisions from government as future investment and growth plans are certainly on hold,” Mr Lomas added.