Businesses want more support from the government to help them through the winter

Nearly 67% of microbusinesses recently surveyed by business energy supplier Valda Energy feel that the government misunderstands their energy needs and are calling for more support to help protect them from high energy costs as we approach the winter.

With just 4% stating that they are satisfied, the 500 businesses surveyed said that they had significant concerns and called for more government support.

Additionally, 75% of those surveyed feel that the support for small and medium sizes businesses has been neglected in favour of household customers and larger businesses.

When asked about the two recent schemes set up to help them, 56% of microbusinesses surveyed expressed dissatisfaction with the first of the two schemes, the Energy Bills Relief Scheme (EBRS), set up in October 2022, stating that they believed that it did not offer sufficient assistance during the worst of the price rises.

Citing that the EBRS did not last long enough before being replaced by the second less generous scheme. The Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS) was launched in April 2023 for a period of 12 months. Of the businesses surveyed, just a third of them said that the EBDS provided adequate support for their specific business needs.

Valda Energy’s survey clearly highlights a big issue and the need for more support to help small businesses on a national level with 46% of businesses surveyed stating that they wanted a support package for this winter to help them through the period where consumption and prices tend to go up. 41% of businesses felt that they wanted more tailored support as the winter bites.

It has never been more important to keep an eye what is happening on the market, especially as we approach the winter period.

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