1.5 million businesses forced to raise prices as cost of living crisis hits customers, says Labour

Nearly a third of businesses were forced to raise prices last month thanks to the Conservatives' cost of living crisis, with a whopping 1.5 million firms reporting price hikes, Labour has revealed.

Since the Conservatives crashed the economy, high streets and businesses have been hit hard with inflation and energy bills pushing costs up. 

Customers across the country are now feeling the squeeze with 1.3 million businesses in England, 103,000 in Scotland and 233,000 firms in London reporting they have to raise prices this summer.

Working people continue to be stung by the Tories’ economic mismanagement, with the average monthly food shop costing £470 more than in 2019/20.

Labour has vowed to help businesses thrive and put money back in people’s pockets with a plan to:

1. Cut business rates: high street businesses shouldn’t face big tax hikes whilst online giants are let off the hook. Labour would have cut business rates this financial year for small businesses on the high street by properly taxing online giants.

1. Cut energy bills: many beloved high street businesses face an uncertain future due to spiking energy bills. Labour help them cut their bills for good with one-off vouchers for energy efficiency measures – such as double glazing at a local cinema, a new heat pump in a café or an electric vehicle for a takeaway. 

1. Stamp out late payments: high street firms shouldn’t be forced to wait months to be paid for work by big clients. Labour would introduce tough new laws to stamp out late payments and make sure more money gets to high street firms. 

1. Revamp empty shops: people won’t visit high streets blighted by unsightly boarded up shops. Labour will give councils strong new powers to bring empty shops on their high streets back into use. 

1. Tackle anti-social behaviour: people should feel safe when they go out to shop, eat or have fun on their local high street. Labour will get 13,000 more neighbourhood police and PCSOs back on our streets and introduce tough new measures to crack down on anti-social behaviour that blights local high streets. 

Jonathan Reynolds MP, Labour’s Shadow Business and Trade Secretary, said:

“Businesses are fed up with this Conservative government who have run our economy into the ground and are making it harder and harder for firms to keep costs down. Ultimately it is customers paying the price for the Conservatives economic failure. 

“Labour will stand up for our high streets across the country. We have a plan to revive the great British high street with business rate reforms to help small firms, action on empty shops and antisocial behaviour to bring shoppers back to the high street."

Ends

Notes:

Prices rises by region:

Analysis of Business insights and impact on the UK economy - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk) using Business population figures by region Business population estimates 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

According to the Office for National Statistics, the average weekly household spending in the UK was £509 (£508.50) among households in 2019/20. Family spending in the UK - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)

Inflation in August was 6.7% and prices that month were 21% higher than in 2019/20. This means the cost of the same weekly shop rose by £108 per week. That means that households would have to pay £470 more a month to do the same shop as in 2019/20. https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/consumerpriceinflation/august2023