Small businesses in Holloway are reluctantly increasing their prices in response to higher charges from suppliers and rising energy bills.
One such business is Koyo Coffee and Workspace, opened in March.
“Electricity bills have definitely gone up, quite a bit – I think over 7% more than what we were originally paying”, said co-founder Nurul Amin.
He recently introduced an electricity service charge: “It doesn’t really help too much, but it does help somewhat towards the bill.”
“The problem is not just the energy bills – obviously, in line with inflation and stuff like that, wholesalers have put their prices up for everything.”
Figures from the Office for National Statistic show inflation rose by 10.1% in September, while food prices rose 14.5% last month compared to a year earlier. This increase affects small businesses that serve food, whose prices rely on supplies provided by wholesalers.
Half-Cut, a popular independent deli and wine bar on York Way, has also increased its prices.
“We’ve had to put our prices up; I’ve been trying to stall as long as possible because we think of ourselves as a community place and a neighborhood spot, so I want to try and hold on passing them on from our customers, but it’s just inevitable. If I’m buying something for £3, I can’t sell it for £3.50 anymore. It just doesn’t make any sense”, said founder Holly Wilcocks.
“We’ve had suppliers that normally put their costs up maybe once a year after the budgets – I’ve had several suppliers putting their prices up twice, three times.”
Kate Nicholls, chief executive of industry group UKHospitality, said: “The sky-high levels of inflation we’re seeing are continuing to put the hospitality sector under huge pressure and businesses across the country will be fighting to survive the winter.”
She added: “With hospitality inflation contributing heavily to the overall inflation rate, we now risk an inflationary spiral where our higher costs lead to higher taxes which lead to even higher prices.”
