Restaurant chain boss reveals his huge rise in energy bills as new price cap announced

A restaurant chain boss has revealed the skyrocketing energy bills hitting restaurants like his and many others, adding to fears that this could push many out of businesses this winter. David Fox, founder of the Tampopo chain which employs 140 staff across five sites in the city, took to Twitter to outline the stark rise in energy bills for his business.

Shockingly, he says that two years ago his energy bills per week at one of his restaurants was £325. However, he is now facing energy costs of £3,557 per week from this September.

Ofgem announced a new price cap on Friday morning of £3,549 from October for the average household. But this will be a lot higher for businesses who use energy to serve their customers throughout the day.

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Manchester's night time economy tsar, Sacha Lord, has already urged the government to offer more support to pubs, bars, and restaurants as many could face closure without it. He made comments that many could struggle to make it through the winter 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.

The alarming figures posted by Mr Fox make it clear that this could be entirely possible. In his thread titled 'electricity prices for small businesses', he said, referencing figures for Tampopo: "At one of my restaurants Two years ago my electricity bill was £16.9k pa/£325 per week. Last year it was £62k pa/£1.200 per week.

"Contract is up for review in Sep 22 what’s on offer for 2 yrs is £185k/£3,557 per week. That is £508 a day. This will call into question the affordability