A restaurant has been forced to slash its hours after massive rises in energy bills meant it was too expensive to stay open. The owners of Anar Kali Restaurant in Haslingden were hopeful about the business having survived the pandemic.
Now Yasin and Salma Ali are scared of losing their family business after they saw their monthly bill soar to £2,600 - nearly three times more than the original cost. It is not just energy bills that have hit the husband-and-wife team.
Cooking oil prices have spiked, with the food staple costing double now than previous. As reported by LancsLive, Yasin said: "The restaurant trade has been massively impacted over the last two years during Covid.
"It was like a living nightmare really. We thought once Covid had gone, there would be a fresh chance for the hospitality industry and we thought, 'forget about the past now.'
"Had we had known that electricity, raw materials, gas and energy prices would become so high... it's unbearable to take anymore." Yasin Ali told LancsLive that this time last year, he was paying 13p per kilowatt for the restaurant's energy usage.
A few months ago, he signed a contract with his energy provider to stay on a 12-month fixed term contract at 45p per kilowatt - after this time, it will go on to a variable rate. This means Yasin's monthly bills from £900 to £2,600 have nearly tripled.
He added: "Recently, a family member who owns a takeaway burger joint in Bradford got quoted last week £1.20 per kilowatt. She cannot bear this.
"No business can bear this. If it goes to over a pound, I will have to shut down, there is no doubt about it.
"I am scared. I've told my wife, prepare for the worst."
A heartbroken Yasin said: "What I have invested, my dreams, my hopes, what I have worked for all of my life, it will go to ruins." The restaurant that has been open since 2012 has weathered many storms in its decade of operation, including financial and social troubles, recessions, the coronavirus pandemic and Brexit.
However, Yasin says that the current cost-of-living crisis is the worst thing he has ever experienced in over 24 years of working in hospitality. "Next March, when my fixed price ends, I don't know if I'll stay open or shut completely," Yasin continued.
"I do know that if I close, lots of other businesses will too. You put Covid together, you put Omicron together, you put everything together - in 24 years, this is the worst."
The rising costs involved in running a business do not stop at increasing bills. Add expensive ingredients to the mix and you have a perfect storm brewing that could devastate millions of small businesses across the country.
Yasin said the cost of raw ingredients and dry goods have shot up. He used to pay £20 for 20 litres of vegetable oil, now he pays £40 for the same amount.
He said: "We can take some hikes and reluctantly pass it on to our customers, but we cannot pass on the gas and electric to our customers. We've raised our prices to a pound or 50p here, but we can't raise anymore.
"A curry really should be £19. But we can't charge that, our customers will say 'never mind, we don't need a curry here.'"
Not only are Yasin and Salma Ali having to worry about the cost of running their business, but they also have rising bills to run their home which they share with their two sons. Yasin said: "I used to pay £200 per month for gas and electric and I've been doing that for the past two or three years.
"Now I've been quoted £500 per month. Straight away my wife turned off everything.
"We're on the bare minimum. It is sad because you've worked hard all of these years, not for it to come to this - scrimping and scraping."
