A restaurant boss from Northern Ireland says he could be forced to close his doors after it emerged his bills could rise to over £99,000 next year as the country’s energy crisis deepens.
Mart Caithness, who owns The Exchange Restaurant and Wine Bar in Derry, says his electricity and gas bills have skyrocketed as energy tariffs continue to rise.
He told MyDerry that he is "extremely worried" unless the government take action ahead of the winter period.
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Mr Caithness said that despite "shopping around" his gas bill is set to go from £1,950 a month to £4,100, while his electricity will also more than double from £2,085 to £4,220 - leaving the business owner to potentially pay out an additional £50,000 a year without intervention.
"It's making us question the viability of the business, there's no question about that and it's something that we're having to think hard about now," he told this publication.
"Our electricity and gas bills have gone through the roof and that's not the only thing that is going up. Cooking oil is going up, food costs, and you have staff who are under pressure and asking for an increase in their wages because they too are struggling to pay their own bills.
"It's coming at us from all sides and we're going to have to make some very uncomfortable and tough decisions in the coming weeks because there is no way that it will be viable to continue with the status quo.
"We have to balance how much of an increase we can put onto our customers and we're depending on them to be able to come out to the restaurant which they might think twice about, given the cost of everything and inflation.
"Dining is certainly not essential for people, it's not the first thing that they think about and that's what worrying because more and more people are not able to afford it."
Mr Caithness said The Exchange, which has been open for 22 years, managed to gather "some insulation" over the summer months due to growth in tourism.
"We find ourselves in a good position at the minute but that's only because we have a substantial rise in the number of people coming into the city throughout the spring and summer, but that is coming to an end now.
"As we go into the winter, I think it's going to get really bad. People are not going to be able to indulge, as I said before, and that's my biggest fear.
"This is a major blow to business because we're just after coming out of a major pandemic which severely impacted the business economy. It really is a hard pill to swallow."
The restaurant owner, who survived the 2008 recession and the Covid-19 pandemic, said he had "never experienced" price surges like he was encountering now.
He added: "It's crazy and I don't know how the government can expect people to be able to keep their business open, quite frankly.
"During the recession, over a decade ago, and the pandemic, we were able to remain profitable because there weren't the same pressures on prices.
"I've never seen or experienced anything like this in all my years in business. We've had to tighten our belts a lot already and I'm not sure how much more we can go.
"The public message is really strong and people are going to be hesitant to overstep themselves because you can't go anywhere at the minute without watching, listening or reading about the cost-of-living crisis.
"The battle is definitely in front of us," he continued. "Without something being done, the current mix is not a recipe for a thriving economy and business success.
"I have a business to run and while I don't think it will be the case, if it gets much worse then of course pulling the shutters down is a possibility."
Meanwhile, Chief Executive of Hospitality Ulster, Colin Neill, said that without government intervention in the coming weeks the outlook for Northern Ireland business was "bleak".
"The cost of doing business, particularly in the hospitality sector is so high at present that it has already forced some business owners to make the difficult decision to shut for good," Colin Neill said MyDerry .
"Whilst others are looking at further reducing opening hours, on top of the reduced hours caused by a labour shortage. This is wholly unsustainable without intervention or support. The outlook is bleak.
“Last week, Hospitality Ulster, with a significant number of other business organisations published an action plan to attempt to help the government bring forward solutions to alleviate some of these pressures. There is real fear out there that if moves are not made soon, then once viable businesses will have to deal with forced closure.”
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