News and features

Mon, 8 Dec 2008

Extend fuel poverty measures to small business, says FSB

Campaign group calls for homeowner support to be extended to small firms.

The government has been encouraged to extend its recent fuel poverty measures for homeowners struggling to cope with rising energy costs to the small business sector.

According to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), higher fuel costs are hitting the UK economy and stifling employment.

It added that in a recent survey of 9,000 FSB members, 80 per cent said fuel costs will probably make it more difficult for them to expand their business and hire new staff over the next 12 months.

Another 40 per cent said the price of energy and fuel is likely to force them into cutting their workforce during the coming the year.

The FSB's Marc Shoffman said job losses could be avoided if the government offered small firms the same help with improving energy efficiency and reducing bills that it is giving to homeowners.

According to the BBC, the government's fuel poverty measures include helping households to cutting energy waste through measures such as improving insulation, while also providing advice on finding the best pricing tariffs.

The FSB is a campaign group representing around 205,000 small businesses and self-employed workers.

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