Blog. A crisis is coming

The nation shared a collective sense of dismay and anxiety, when Ofgem announced the latest energy price cap rise, last Friday.   

The rise will cast millions of households into poverty, unable to feed their children or heat their homes.  

For operators, there’s not even the cold comfort of a price cap, leaving business owners to feel cut adrift.  

Michelin starred restaurateur Simon Hulstone tweeted earlier this month, that the annual gas bill at his Torquay restaurant, the Elephant, had risen from £4300 to £24,530.  

And a headline, last week, on industry media site BigHospitality spoke volumes: “Three quarters of pubs facing extinction”, it read.  

With no plan yet announced by our elected leaders to mitigate this extinction-level threat to the hospitality sector, it feels like we’re returning to the darkest days of the pandemic, with the hope that relief is coming down the line negated by the fear that it may never arrive - or arrive too late.  

Today, an open letter was shared by key figures in the pub trade highlighting the developing crisis for our hard-pressed pubs.

Chris Jowsey, the chief executive of Admiral Taverns, said the impact was frightening. He is quoted by The Guardian as saying: “One of our licensees reluctantly gave notice to leave his pub after the cost of electricity increased by 450%, making it impossible to trade profitably. Let’s not forget that for most licensees the pub is not just their business but also their family home." 

Now, just as then, our team at HA is 100% committed to helping you. We’re throwing every ounce of our energy into fundraising as hard as we can and supporting those worst affected by soaring bills.  

In households, the rise is exacerbating an existing crisis.  

Just last week, we’ve spoken to pensioners who’ve already turned the gas off through fear of unsustainable bills; mums and dads losing all hope, as they become engulfed by bill after bill; and proprietors contemplating taking their own lives because the responsibility they feel towards their staff is too much to bear.  

It’s here, it’s happening now - and it’s clear that the mental health impact of this crisis will last well beyond the cold months ahead. 

We’ll continue to do our best to help as many people as possible, but we’ll never be able to do enough. This is bigger than us, bigger than any charity’s ability to help.  

Only the government can address these profound structural issues, and we stand beside our industry associations and those civil society organisations who have the ear of those in power.  

What’s clear is that our wonderful sector has our backs and will support us in our efforts to provide financial and mental health support to those who need it most.   

The Managing Director of Cotswold hotel, Calcot & Spa, Richard Ball, is making a clarion call to his network, asking them to donate their £400 fuel rebate to HA.  

He told us: “I fully support the Government’s initial response to supporting those threatened with poverty due to the current fuel and cost of living crisis but would love to see it more targeted on those facing an emergency situation this Winter.  

“We will all face some difficulty, but it is relative, and I feel that by entrusting my share to a charity such as Hospitality Action it will serve to meet a much greater need. If those of us who have enjoyed good lifelong careers in hospitality could divert our support grants to HA, we could make some small difference to the emergency situation faced by many.” 

If you’re in a similar position and would like to take up Richard’s call, we’d be honoured to receive your support. 

We are working on a series of fundraising campaigns including Walk for Wellbeing and National Hospitality Day with more events to come. Please take part if you can. Add Invisible Chips to your menu, make us your charity of the year, and consider signing up to our Employee Assistance programme to help support your team's wellbeing at this time of crisis..  

Our Services Team continues to provide timely and targeted support to those unable to pay priority debts including rent, energy and council tax'. And we’re working on new content to help support mental health and signpost to additional sources of help. 

The trust you place in us to support the most vulnerable in our industry is a huge honour to everybody who works at HA, you have my word that we will do all we can in these difficult times.  

Mark.