Isle of Wight businesses and crippling energy costs

That's the view of many business owners who spoke to the County Press about the cost of living crisis this week.

Domestic energy costs are capped but business costs aren't — and they are skyrocketing out of control.

Here's what the businesses are saying:

The Woodman's Arms

Harry and Ronnie Fletcher run The Woodmans Arms in Wootton.

They took over in March 2017, two chefs looking to get their name out there, and feel they have put their heart and soul into the pub in the last five years.

The Fletcher brothers at the Woodman's Arms.

Harry said: "We survived Covid, and seemed to be clawing our way back from the red abyss of debt Covid caused us.

"We worked 12 to 15 hour days to get back in the black, putting our health on the backburner to try to pull through it, and we did.

"Unfortunately, this year in April, we had to renew our contract for electric alone, and it shot up from £600 to £2,500 per month overnight.

"We face a significant increase so in September we are looking to be paying £4,500 in electric and gas and it's not even winter yet.

"That alone is crippling us....

"Then you have the cost of goods. Cooking oil went up from £18 to £40, cheese doubled from £18.99 to £38.99, for example.

"Domestically, there is a cap on energy, but businesses don't have one so the bills are increasing at ridiculous rates.

"A lot of local Island businesses will close by October/November time if they haven't already because of Covid and rising costs."

The Castle Inn, Vine Inn and Crown Inn

Liam White of the Castle Inn in Newport, The Vine Inn in St Helens and The Crown Inn in Shorwell, said they were just trying to absorb the cost of their electric bills for now, so as not to pass on to customers.

He said the electric bill at The Castle had risen from £1,000 per month to nearly £3,000, and will continue to rise.

"The worst thing is that with everything we did to get through Covid, all the opening and closing, we come through that and get faced with an extortionate rise in energy costs," Liam said.

"Just how much can they bleed us dry with? There's only so much people will pay for a meal so we are rolling with the punches and trying to weather the storm. A rise in prices on our menu would decrease our sales."

Wildheart Animal Sanctuary

Lawrence Bates, of the Wildheart Animal Sanctuary, thinks the threat of rising energy costs is worse than Covid for many businesses and organisations.

Lawrence Bates of the Wildheart Animal Sanctuary.

He said: "This is an astronomical rise in electricity costs. Ours is fixed until October then it goes up by over 300 per cent. It's huge.

"People in the zoological sector have reported that they simply won't be able to operate.

"There's no guidance from government, and there's been lots in the news about domestic rates but not businesses.

"We have renewables on site but it's a small percentage, and there's no real support from government for that either.

"In terms of threat to business, this is bigger than Covid, because there's no government support, such as grants."

He said the Sandown attraction couldn't just turn the electric off — it's helping keep the animals alive.

He said: "We can't just turn the heating off or ask the animals to put a jumper on, so we just have to keep going.

"We can't just put entry prices up either — we are aware people have less money to spend."

Long Island

At Long Island in Newport's Holyrood Street, Andy Wyatt only took over the business in June. He's having to work another job simply to take a wage home.

Andy Wyatt at Long Island.

He said: "Energy prices are affecting my business a lot. Last month's electric bill was £1,350 and seeing as we are only open four days a week it's quite ridiculous.

"The costs aren't sustainable and with prices set to increase further, we will be seeing a significant number of businesses having to close.

"The lack of government help is concerning. If businesses close, more people will become unemployed, costing the government more in the long term."

The Cedars

Ashley Cherrett and Tia Nicholson run the Cedars in Wootton.

Their main concerns are the rising energy costs and no government support, but there are other aggravating factors.

Ashley and Tia behind the bar at The Cedars.

Ashley said: "Costs of everything are just spiralling out of control and most people in the industry are worried.

"There are other issues too, as people are so short of money, they are not going to be going out to pubs.

"We are trying to recruit staff and no-one wants to come into the industry."

Island MP Bob Seely told the County Press: “I know rising costs are a real concern to some businesses on the Island, and elsewhere.

"I am unaware of any plans to introduce a commercial energy price cap but I can assure Island business owners that I will be writing to the relevant minister to raise their concerns to ensure the government is fully aware of the pressure businesses are under.”