With last week's announcement from Ofgem that energy prices will be jumping up by 80% this autumn, Bira is asking its members to step in and lobby their local MPs for change.
Bira has been asking the government about business rate relief to help offset increasing energy costs, amongst other actions since last October, and will be continuing to campaign for change on behalf of its members.
In a recent open letter to the two leadership candidates, Rishi Sunak and Lizz Truss, Bira urged them to take action, and in particular:
- Maintain 100% business rates relief for retailers;
- Persuade energy companies to place a cap on energy increases for businesses;
- Reduce to the multiplier for small businesses from 2023/24;
- Cut VAT for retailers to stimulate demand;
- Provide more funding to encourage investment in low-energy technology in retail shops to protect retailers from higher energy bills in the long term.
On top of this, members are being encouraged to also take these appeals to their own MPs.
Andrew Goodacre, Bira’s CEO said: “With energy prices soaring we all need to take action. This cannot continue and we need our local MPs to sit up and take note. We hope by all our indies also taking a stand, we can create some real noise and action off the back of this, putting pressure on those in power and getting our voices heard.”
We have created a template letter which can be amended and sent directly to your MP.
Download the template letter here
To find out how to contact your MP, follow this link.
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