A North Tyneside business owner has slammed the Government after his energy bill increased from £350 at the beginning of the year to more than £1,600 in October.
Shawn Darling-Cooper opened Kork in Whitley Bay with his wife and business partner Claire just two weeks before the first Coronavirus lockdown in March 2020. The independent deli and shop, which specialises in natural wines, has battled on throughout that period but Shawn says that the current energy crisis could be the "final nail in the coffin" for him and several other small independent business owners.
The 44-year-old revealed in a post on an Instagram that his bill from supplier E.On Next covering September, before October's prices were due to go up, was £1,673.50, which he has worked out is a rise of around 378 percent. This is despite only having "a few fridges and lights" in the shop on Whitley Road.
