Rising energy costs

[Not a subway]

Hello all.

Recently, I looked at a couple of businesses for sale on the Internet. Both are retail premises.
One is a convenience store the other is a fast food unit.
Both were priced way below market value.
When I done my business plan for both units I realised that it was the electricity costs which were making both businesses unsustainable.
The cost of electricity has jumped from 13p KWH to over 50p KWH. EDF were quoting me 60p plus vat and other charges.
This is more than 400% up from last year and set to rise again in October.
Basically, what you were paying per month you will now be paying per week.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

[intheTRADE]

I have plenty of thoughts on it, none of which will make a blind bit of difference to the situation the whole country has been in for months- as a side note buying a high energy use business like a takeaway right now would madness

All of those Boris haters who forced him out of office just to jump on the bandwagon of Boris haters can now sit nervously as they've left us with a 50% chance Mr Sunak will be our next Prime Minister and if you think things are bad now, brace yourself for this joker if he wins

 

[Newchodge]

I have plenty of thoughts on it, none of which will make a blind bit of difference to the situation the whole country has been in for months- as a side note buying a high energy use business like a takeaway right now would madness

All of those Boris haters who forced him out of office just to jump on the bandwagon of Boris haters can now sit nervously as they've left us with a 50% chance Mr Sunak will be our next Prime Minister and if you think things are bad now, brace yourself for this joker if he wins

The alternative is Truss. I can't se her being any better.

 

[japancool]

Many businesses will be in this situation. You're going to see a lot more closures and layoffs for this reason alone.

 

[japancool]

The alternative is Truss. I can't se her being any better.

Judging by how it's going, Truss is more likely.

No current politician would make a good PM. All of them, without exception, are into short-termism, and politics has been like this for at least the last 40 years.

 

[Newchodge]

Many businesses will be in this situation. You're going to see a lot more closures and layoffs for this reason alone.

I don't think many small businesses are aware how important his is for them. People with less disposable income will spend less. That will impact a huge number of small businesses.

 

[LandlordsFirst]

So disappointing to read. Some really cool independent and creative business out there, but because of these profit fat cats, they are starting to sink :-(.

Still can't believe how these "record profits" under "Putin's war" resulting in "necessary price hikes" haven't been more challenged.

 

[japancool]

...and Hinkley Point B just went offline.

Hinkley B: UK's most productive nuclear power plant closes

Hinkley Point B has shut down permanently, after 46 years generating electricity.

www.bbc.co.uk

Good timing, that.

 

[The Byre]

The cure for high prices is high prices. That market mechanism takes a while to kick in, but kick in it must and kick in it will!

 

[Casually made]

Am struggling to see how any takeaway can currently be profitable at the moment

Price of raw ingredients must have almost doubled in the last 12 months , that's without the energy costs being quoted above

Ontop of that a takeaways products are those which can't really be inflated that easily

I mean you could add £1 to the cost of a burger with not much grievance but you are still going to need to sell a lot of burgers to cover a 500 quid a week energy bill increase

I went too Five guys last week ordered a burger they charged me £8.95 for it i nearly collapsed at the till

And that is a massive international franchise

Nothing seems to make much sense to me anymore

 

[WaveJumper]

Am struggling to see how any takeaway can currently be profitable at the moment

Price of raw ingredients must have almost doubled in the last 12 months , that's without the energy costs being quoted above

Ontop of that a takeaways products are those which can't really be inflated that easily

I mean you could add £1 to the cost of a burger with not much grievance but you are still going to need to sell a lot of burgers to cover a 500 quid a week energy bill increase

I went too Five guys last week ordered a burger they charged me £8.95 for it i nearly collapsed at the till

And that is a massive international franchise

Nothing seems to make much sense to me anymore

You're wrong the only thing that makes any sense is ........... we are all getting screwed.

 

[Not a subway]

Am struggling to see how any takeaway can currently be profitable at the moment

Price of raw ingredients must have almost doubled in the last 12 months , that's without the energy costs being quoted above

Ontop of that a takeaways products are those which can't really be inflated that easily

I mean you could add £1 to the cost of a burger with not much grievance but you are still going to need to sell a lot of burgers to cover a 500 quid a week energy bill increase

I went too Five guys last week ordered a burger they charged me £8.95 for it i nearly collapsed at the till

And that is a massive international franchise

Nothing seems to make much sense to me anymore

You're not far off in regards to food costs. I'm wondering if many fast food retailers just don't realise what is going on in the energy markets.
Never in the past 40 years have I seen energy so high as a percentage of costs.
It now seems as though energy costs will be higher than rent and rates combined for some premises.

 

[LandlordsFirst]

Am struggling to see how any takeaway can currently be profitable at the moment

Price of raw ingredients must have almost doubled in the last 12 months , that's without the energy costs being quoted above

Ontop of that a takeaways products are those which can't really be inflated that easily

I mean you could add £1 to the cost of a burger with not much grievance but you are still going to need to sell a lot of burgers to cover a 500 quid a week energy bill increase

I went too Five guys last week ordered a burger they charged me £8.95 for it i nearly collapsed at the till

And that is a massive international franchise

Nothing seems to make much sense to me anymore

Ordered a Five Guys for delivery once: burger, chips and a milkshake = £30; that was in 2019!

It was nice, but I think they'd go bust if they put up their prices rn, have you seen how empty their joints are half the time..?

Just thinking how these costs will affect street food vendors? Will we start to see the end of food-walking streets or an increase in them?

 

[Not a subway]

Ordered a Five Guys for delivery once: burger, chips and a milkshake = £30; that was in 2019!

It was nice but I think they'd go bust if they put up their prices rn, have you seen how empty their joints are half the time..?

Just thinking how these costs will affect street food vendors? Will we start to see the end of food-walking streets or an increase in them?

Street vendors could actually be better off. Although the cost of fuel might rise for them, they use mostly gas for cooking. Without the overheads of lights, air conditioning and walk in refrigeration, they could actually come through this recession rather well.

 

[Casually made]

Just thinking how these costs will affect street food vendors? Will we start to see the end of food-walking streets or an increase in them?

Well an increase i would imagine as its far cheaper to set a food stall up than a bricks and mortar plus you can always move to where the customers are !

 

[NickGrogan]

This is more than 400% up from last year and set to rise again in October.

You're confusing domestic and home energy.

The home energy price cap is going up in October, will go up again in April (not much talk about this yet) and probably again next October.

Business prices are fixed term, fixed price contracts, so whatever you agree will be in place for 12 months. Assuming that a supplier will take you - this is not guaranteed.

Both were priced way below market value.

Probably not, they're not worth anything at the moment.

 

[NickGrogan]

The alternative is Truss. I can't se her being any better.

So why did you want to get rid of Boris?

 

[Casually made]

So why did you want to get rid of Boris?

Because he was a criminal , they all are.

 

[Paul FilmMaker]

My old flatmate from Uni in France is also complaining about his electricity bill. The French government capped it at a 4% rise...

Otherwise, I'm glad I'm not hit by this. I have no idea how other businesses can even begin to deal with this. My other half and I have solar power at top of our list.

 

[Newchodge]

So why did you want to get rid of Boris?

i don't believe you can have someone running a country who is a compulsive liar who breaks internationa law at the drop of a hat. and for whom corruption is a way of life.

 

[Newchodge]

Because he was a criminal , they all are.

One of the worst things he did was to make it seem as if his behaviour was the norm. He is a criminal but I do not believe that they all are.

 

[NickGrogan]

i don't believe you can have someone running a country who is a compulsive liar who breaks internationa law at the drop of a hat. and for whom corruption is a way of life.

And did you think at all about who would replace him?

 

[Fagin2021]

And did you think at all about who would replace him?

The argument that you keep someone who is useless, crooked and corrupt because the alternatives are worse is not a compelling one in my book.

That this argument is even deployed says a lot about our political system and the quality of individuals that operate within it.

The point (I think) @The Byre was making is that high prices and massive profits will (eventually) bring new entrants and new technologies into the market - or make existing technologies (some renewables) viable that couldn't previously compete with fossil fuels.

It'll take time though.

 

[NickGrogan]

The argument that you keep someone who is useless, crooked and corrupt because the alternatives are worse is not a compelling one in my book.

So you're arguing that it's okay to replace someone with a new person who is worse? Do you then replace the worse person with someone even more terrible? When do you stop?

That seems like a bad idea to me.

 

[Not a subway]

Business prices are fixed term, fixed price contracts, so whatever you agree will be in place for 12 months. Assuming that a supplier will take you - this is not guaranteed.

Yes, business contracts are a minimum of 12 months. However, prices are still rising. It is 50p per unit right now where as last week the cheapest deal was 45p per unit.

It is going to keep on rising on par with domestic rates.

 

[Casually made]

One of the worst things he did was to make it seem as if his behaviour was the norm. He is a criminal but I do not believe that they all are.

Depends how literally you want to define criminal

For me if the average person commits any form of fraud they will be sanctioned heavily for it at her majesty's pleasure

A member of parliament however can swindle a couple of expense claims a new horse stable here and a new bathroom there and nobody will bat an eyelid

The system is ****ed by my definition.

 

[Not a subway]

Of course it's a convoluted system.
In Scotland there is a Green's minister for Environment and biodiversity.
She tells us that we should take the bus and not use the car, stop going on holiday abroad so we can lower our carbon footprint.
She however has a salary of 6 figures plus a six figure expense account and a new Tesla with a driver and assistant.
All in all she costs the tax pay around £500,000 per year.
Now, a family of 4 can get by for £30,000. They won't be in luxury but their basic needs will be met. So right now she is consuming the same amount of resources as 16 families of 4.
How does this make any sense when trying to promote environmental awareness. Hypocrisy.
Very few people are capable of critical thinking. That's why society has these problems.

 

[Newchodge]

And did you think at all about who would replace him?

No, as I have no input into that.

 

[alan1302]

Of course it's a convoluted system.
In Scotland there is a Green's minister for Environment and biodiversity.
She tells us that we should take the bus and not use the car, stop going on holiday abroad so we can lower our carbon footprint.
She however has a salary of 6 figures plus a six figure expense account and a new Tesla with a driver and assistant.
All in all she costs the tax pay around £500,000 per year.
Now, a family of 4 can get by for £30,000. They won't be in luxury but their basic needs will be met. So right now she is consuming the same amount of resources as 16 families of 4.
How does this make any sense when trying to promote environmental awareness. Hypocrisy.
Very few people are capable of critical thinking. That's why society has these problems.

The amount of money someone is paid has nothing to do with promoting environmental awareness and so no hypocrisy.

 

[Not a subway]

The amount of money someone is paid has nothing to do with promoting environmental awareness and so no hypocrisy.

You take the bus and I'll take my Tesla with driver and assistant.

 

[Annoying Donkey]

Might be having a brain fog, but why are energy companies making such huge profits...?

 

[Newchodge]

Might be having a brain fog, but why are energy companies making such huge profits...?

Because they are charging bugely inflated prices while their costs are pretty much what they were.

 

[UKSBD]

Might be having a brain fog, but why are energy companies making such huge profits...?

Because someone else in the world is prepared to pay more for what they are selling

 

[The Byre]

The point (I think) @The Byre was making is that high prices and massive profits will (eventually) bring new entrants and new technologies into the market - or make existing technologies (some renewables) viable that couldn't previously compete with fossil fuels.

Exactly that.

But it does not have to take long. By just driving carefully, I can go from 40mpg to 60mpg. That is a saving of £4 on 60 miles of driving. The last time we took delivery of heating oil was over two years ago and most of that 4,000 liters is still there, as we now concentrate on heating with wood.

In the long term - I shall be building solar heaters for both the business and the house. The new builds around our way all have 4" of Kingspan in the walls, EV panels on the roofs and use heat pumps.

Also, industry is having to rethink its addiction to cheap energy that came with North Sea oil and gas.

 

[LandlordsFirst]

Because they are charging bugely inflated prices while their costs are pretty much what they were.

This is so accurate, but I feel most people aren't really getting it. It's almost like a lot of people can't compute it is that simple - they lied!

We've been lied to and scaremongered by leading corrupt politicians, companies and the media, and even though the lies are out, prices are still increasing and most people are getting into more and more economic difficulties.

Something will cause this country to boil over. I'm not sure what, but this must be hitting the subconscious on some level.

 

[Casually made]

Something will cause this country to boil over. I'm not sure what, but this must be hitting the subconscious on some level.

We live in a highly indoctrinated and distracted society a lot of people aren't capable of critical thinking and therefore can't pinpoint what the problem is

They are too busy paying for their £350 a month audi or bmw that they needed to get to put on their instagram account and make the neighbours jealous

On Thursday the bank of England will raise the base rate to 1.75% in a laboured bid to try and slow the rampant inflation in this country

this also means commercial lending rates will begin to sharply increase

The era of cheap credit is drawing to a close and given we are a society which is highly reliant on said credit to live our fairy-tale lives i do feel this will become boiling point for many

Its no fun when the bank wont increase your overdraft any further

 

[NickGrogan]

Because they are charging bugely inflated prices while their costs are pretty much what they were.

So why is Bulb losing billions of pounds and why does no one want to buy it?

Failing energy firms will cost UK consumers £2.7bn, says watchdog

National Audit Office accuses Ofgem of creating a market ‘vulnerable to large-scale shocks’

www.theguardian.com

Some simple charts here that show the price changes

UK Natural Gas - Price - Chart - Historical Data - News

UK Gas rose to 79.83 GBp/thm on February 4, 2026, up 1.67% from the previous day. Over the past month, UK Gas's price has risen 12.69%, but it is still 39.05% lower than a year ago, according to trading on a contract for difference (CFD) that tracks the benchmark market for this commodity. UK...

tradingeconomics.com

 

[NickGrogan]

No, as I have no input into that.

That's your choice.

 

[Newchodge]

So why is Bulb losing billions of pounds and why does no one want to buy it?

Failing energy firms will cost UK consumers £2.7bn, says watchdog

National Audit Office accuses Ofgem of creating a market ‘vulnerable to large-scale shocks’

www.theguardian.com

Some simple charts here that show the price changes

UK Natural Gas - Price - Chart - Historical Data - News

UK Gas rose to 79.83 GBp/thm on February 4, 2026, up 1.67% from the previous day. Over the past month, UK Gas's price has risen 12.69%, but it is still 39.05% lower than a year ago, according to trading on a contract for difference (CFD) that tracks the benchmark market for this commodity. UK...

tradingeconomics.com

Follow the sequence of posts and you may understand.

 

[NickGrogan]

Annoying Donkey said energy companies are making huge profits
Newchodge agreed with them and said that they are charging inflated prices when the costs haven't changed.

I said if this is due, why does no one want to buy a company with a significant market share and well known name and why are they losing money? I also highlight the fact that wholesale energy prices have increased massively.