Sacha Lord has issued a dire warning about the health of the hospitality sector in Manchester, saying many pubs, bars and restaurants could face closure without urgent Government support.
The night time economy tsar said a combination of soaring energy prices, staff shortages and the cost of living crisis could leave many venues struggling "to make it through the winter".
The comments come after a survey of landlords, published this week, found that seven-in-ten fear they will go bust over the next six months without Government intervention on fuel bills.
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Mr Lord, speaking to the Northern Agenda podcast, said: "A fault of mine is always to look at the positives where I can and I'll be honest with you, there aren't that many positives around at the moment.
"Everybody's seen the energy increases at the moment, I saw a small family run pub in Kendal just on the outskirts of the Lake District this week - they've been quoted £124,000 next year for their energy, that is not viable.
"A friend of mine owns a restaurant in the centre of Manchester, he was telling me a couple weeks ago that the oil in his fat fryer is now more expensive than unleaded petrol."
The Warehouse Project and Parklife boss added: "Where we are now is most definitely a worse position than when we were shut during the pandemic as during the pandemic there was some really good support, there was furlough, VAT cut from 20% to 5%, business rates relief, but now there is no support whatsoever.
"We are entering a perfect storm."
While Ofgem's household price cap is expected to rise from £2,700 to £3,700 in October – and by much more after that – businesses will be left at the mercy of volatile markets.
It comes after industry leaders pointed out that if the price of beer had risen at the same rate as wholesale gas, a pint would cost £25.
UK Hospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said the sector was facing 'unsustainable' energy hikes, and called for business rates relief and the removal of VAT from energy bills until prices become affordable.
She said: "Without this support there is no doubt that many of the UK's most loved pubs and bars will not survive to see the New Year, robbing many of their livelihoods and ripping the heart out of communities across the UK."
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