A new grassroots campaign is warning of mass closures and redundancies among retail, leisure, hospitality and tourism businesses in the face of the spiralling energy crisis. #BusinessSOS has been launched by business bodies across the country representing 150,000 companies and is warning the current crisis could supersede covid for its long-term impact and cause "irreversible damage" to UK high streets and the economy.
It is now calling for a three-point action plan from the Government. It wants a reduction in VAT from 20 per cent to 12.5 per cent for the headline rate and VAT on business energy bills to be brought down from 20 per cent to five per cent to match domestic billing.
The campaign is also calling for 100 per cent business rate relief until March 31, 2023, and a discounted kwh (kilowatt-hour) price on all business energy bills.
