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// Iceland MD sends urgent plea to No 10 to prepare an immediate cost-of-living package for businesses
// Walker says the ‘half-baked’ responses touted by Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak will fall way short of addressing people’s needs
Iceland boss Richard Walker has said he has been forced to stop the opening of planned new stores after the latest energy bill for the frozen food retailer rose by £20m.
As a result, MD Richard Walker has contacted No 10 with an urgent plea to prepare an immediate cost-of-living package for retailers as thousands worry about trading this winter amid extortionate energy costs.
Mr Walker said his business is “fighting to keep the lights on” after its recent energy bill more than doubled, and now he is calling for an energy price cap for businesses in the UK.
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With the new Prime Ministers of the country set to be announced today, Walker said whoever wins will need to “sort out our completely broken energy markets” in the longer term.
The managing director told The Guardian he is concerned about a “half-baked response” from whoever takes over from Boris Johnson which will fall way short of addressing people’s needs as Goldman Sachs warns that UK inflation could top 22% next year.
Walker explained that for instance, Liz Truss’s plans to cut business rates for small and medium businesses are “lovely” but it “won’t even touch the sides”.
“What they need to understand is [this affects] big business as well as small, because it’s exactly the same trouble we’re in – there’s just more jobs at stake,” Mr Walker added.
He said Iceland is seeing its energy bills soaring more than other supermarkets as it is reliant on storing produce in fridges and freezers
The business saw its energy bill hit £70m last year, equivalent to around 2pc of its sales.
In the first quarter alone its bill jumped by £19m, suggesting that it is on course to more than double this year.
He said in the end Iceland will be “large and strong enough to ride out this storm” but many suppliers risk going bust, which will put thousands of jobs at risk.
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