Traditional British fish and chip shops are facing an extinction event as prices for energy and fish increase.
The U.K. faces a historic cost-of-living crisis due to a persistent upward spiral in energy bills, which has driven inflation to double figures and is expected to worsens into next year, hammering consumers and small businesses
The prices of fish, potatoes, and oil have gone up as a result of the sanctions. Russia is a major supplier of white fish to many countries.
The school summer holiday finishes next week and people will be concentrating on energy prices so I think this winter is going to be hard.
It is so quiet here that most people talk about just a few days a week opening up. A lot of people are going to go to the wall unless the government helps them.
The restaurant in the center of the east coast seaside town has been owned by David and Eileen Beckford for seven years.
SKEGNESS, England - August 30, 2022: David Wilkinson (R) and partner Eileen Beckford (L), owners of the The Blue Fin in Skegness, Lincolnshire, are worried about the future as rising fish and energy prices hammer traditional British fish and chip shops.I used to have the restaurant open upstairs and downstairs, but not anymore, we just have to put it on trays and charge the same price, which helps relieve the cost. He said it's a fine margin now. The country's labor market is extremely tight and the Blue Financial is having a hard time finding people to work for them.
He used to pay £70 for 3 stone 42 lbs of fish, but that has increased to £270, with most of his fish coming from Russia. As a result of the war in Ukraine, the U.K. government has implemented an additional 35% tariffs on seafood imports from Russia, and this is likely to hit even harder through the winter.
The National Federation of Fish Friers traveled to Norway to try to mitigate the problem of soaring prices of fish and chips.
The industry is concerned about the extent to which fish and chip shops can pass cost increases onto consumers before they begin to lose business, with fish and chips being an affordable treat in traditionally working class areas of the country.
Salt's fish and chip shop at the opposite end of the town has seen energy prices double while it opened for extended trading hours during the summer and is looking to conserve energy throughout the winter.
Skegness becomes a ghost town in the winter. He said last week that they would be keeping an eye on everything.
We look to earn as much money as we can in the summer in order to get through the winter.
The family-owned business has had to raise its fish prices twice this year due to the rising wholesale prices. Increased travel requirements and rising fuel costs are some of the factors that have led to price increases.
As owners, we are scared, but we are hoping at the moment. We have had conversations with the entire family, what we are reading, and we are unsure of what the future holds.
The business has been contacting suppliers to try to lock in prices for a year or more, but the uncertainty of the macroeconomic outlook means many are not willing to do so.
Andrew Crook, president of the U.K.'s National Federation of Fish Friers and owner of the Skippers of Euxton restaurant, told CNBC on Monday that this was possibly the worst crisis in the industry's history.
Since the beginning of the year, the price of fish and chips at Skippers has gone up, but the price of fish has gone up even more. The outlook is very scary as the impact of the 35% tariffs on Russian imports is yet to trickle down into prices being charged by suppliers.
The lack of crops in the U.K. has led to a rise in potato prices and the price of oil used in fish and chips has doubled.
We are resilient, we have a great product, and I am confident that the industry will get through it. I'm pretty sure it will bring a lot of people down the way.
I don't think it's just fish and chip shops that are affected, although we do have some unique pressures because of the conflict, so we are probably taking the brunt of it
SKEGNESS, England - Aug. 30, 2022: High Street in Skegness, Lincolnshire, colloquially known as Chip Pan Alley.The NFFF has been lobbying the British government to reform its tax system for small businesses, with VAT returning to 20% from April.
We have always had a tight margin because fish is expensive and we have always had a low sale price. The pain of VAT has always been felt by us, and now the rest of the hoteliers agree.
It is now. We need a brave government that will take these difficult decisions and recognize them as an investment in the future because we do provide great jobs.
He explained that commercial energy customers don't have the same rights as households to switch to a new provider. A review of the energy supply system is being called for by the NFFF.
Small businesses make up the majority of the country's work force. We used to be known as a nation of shopkeepers.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
