The ACS has called for a small business energy price cap to help retailers fight the cost-of-living crisis.
There is currently no energy price cap for businesses that would limit the rates a supplier can charge for their default tariffs.
Chief executive James Lowman told BBC Radio 5 Live: “At the beginning of the year, typically, our members would be paying 15p per unit for electricity. They’re now being quoted upwards of 60p a unit. That’s more than quadruple the amount.
“We don’t like to catastrophise, but the sums just don’t add up. Something has got to be done to support them.”
Lowman added: “While big businesses are also very constrained, small businesses can’t hedge, buy ahead of time and do the things that try to mitigate costs, and those costs are just not sustainable.
“The energy bill for the convenience sector as a whole is £2.5bn now and that will continue to go up. The most effective thing the government can do is introduce a cap on energy costs because that is the driver of this really acute emergency that is facing our members and lots of other businesses.”
