Sacha Lord warns many pubs, restaurants and bars will struggle 'to make it through the winter'
manchestereveningnews.co.ukSacha Lord has issued a dire warning about the health of the hospitality sector in Manchester, saying many pubs, bars and restaurants could face closure without urgent Government support.
The night time economy tsar said a combination of soaring energy prices, staff shortages and the cost of living crisis could leave many venues struggling "to make it through the winter".
The comments come after a survey of landlords, published this week, found that seven-in-ten fear they will go bust over the next six months without Government intervention on fuel bills. READ MORE: Public asked where smoking should be banned in Greater Manchester Mr Lord, speaking to the Northern Agenda podcast, said: "A fault of mine is always to look at the positives where I can and I'll be honest with you, there aren't that many positives around at the moment. "Everybody's seen the energy increases at the moment, I saw a small family run pub in Kendal just on the outskirts of the Lake District this week - they've been quoted £124,000 next year for their energy, that is not viable. "A friend of mine owns a restaurant in the centre of Manchester, he was telling me a couple weeks ago that the oil in his fat fryer is now more expensive than unleaded petrol." The Warehouse Project and Parklife boss added: "Where we are now is most definitely a worse position than when we were shut during the pandemic as during the pandemic there was some really good support, there was furlough, VAT cut from 20% to 5%, business rates relief, but now there is no support whatsoever. "We are entering a perfect storm." While Ofgem's household price cap is expected to rise from £2,700 to £3,700 in October – and by much more after that – businesses will be left at the mercy of
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