TV chef Tom Kerridge has revealed that the energy bill at his pub has increased from £60,000 to £420,000. He warned the “ludicrous” energy prices meant that the hospitality sector is facing a “terrifying landscape”.
He said the quote was from an existing supplier and said he would "shop around". But he warned many businesses faced an uncertain future, with some deciding they had no choice but to close for the winter.
He told the BBC: "From my business..one of them, at the minute its monthly electricity bill is £5,000 a month. That's quite expensive, it's not a very big business this one but it's big enough and everything is electric...the stoves are electric, the ovens are electric, the fridges are on 24 hours a day. The extraction goes on...it's almost a 24-hour business, 7 days a week.
"We're on a tied contract that comes to an end in December and it goes from £5,000 a month to £35,000 a month. That is from our existing supplier. Obviously we are going to try and shop around and most definitely try to bring that down.
"But your first quote has gone from £60k a year to £420k a year, it is just absolutely ludicrous. That's just us, every business is getting quoted that because there is no cap on business energy."
"It's just not viable, the numbers are so ridiculous and ludicrous that no wonder so many businesses are closing, talking of closing. There's lots of hotels that are talking of just mothballing it for the winter because they can't afford to keep the heating going."
He said "many people" within hospitality were "having the same conversations". He added: "Those margins are definitely not there in businesses to be able to pay electricity bills that are going up 5, 6, 700%."
The chef has called for “some form of energy price cap” for businesses, and Kate Nicholls, the chief executive of UK Hospitality, told The Telegraph that pubs and restaurants “urgently need a package of measures that will ensure the survival of hospitality businesses and thus guarantee jobs and wages for people who need to pay their own rising energy and food bills”.
Last month the chef responded to criticism after it was revealed his pub charges £87 for steak. He said at the time: "I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if you want to ride in a Bentley, it costs money. If you’re on a budget there’s an intensely farmed Ford Focus available round the corner and that’s fine by me."
