'Almost six in ten' hospitality businesses taking action to reduce energy costs

The hospitality industry has the largest percentage of businesses having to take action to reduce energy costs compared to any other sector of the economy, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Almost six in 10 (59%) hospitality businesses have had to find methods of mitigating spiralling energy prices, ONS data released today (3 November) shows.

This is higher than the average figure reported across all industries, which showed that 40% of businesses had taken some form of action to lower costs.

Nearly a third (32%) of hospitality operators resorted to switching electrical equipment to standby or turning devices off more than usual when not in use.

Approximately one in five (19%) hospitality businesses have already reduced the number of trading hours due to spiralling energy costs.

Several owners of restaurants and hotels have announced that they will be going into hibernation for the winter months due to rising costs.

It comes after The Caterer's own energy survey in September revealed that 72% of businesses expected to limit opening hours due to the crisis.

ONS figures also showed that over nine in ten (96%) businesses in the accommodation and foodservice industries had some form of concern for the future of their operations, including inflation, energy prices and interest rates.

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