8.3%

Butchery

Energy Bill Support Cut

The government has confirmed it will continue to subsidise businesses' energy costs until 31 March 2024, but said the rate of support will be reduced from April 2023. The Treasury said it had provided an "unprecedented" £18b package of support throughout the winter but that it was only intended to be temporary. From 1 April 2023 a new £5.5b Energy Bills Discount Scheme will be brought in offering a lower level of support. James Cartlidge, exchequer secretary to the Treasury, said this was a "transitional" scheme and that "no responsible serious government anywhere in the world can permanently shield businesses from this energy price shock". From 1 April 2023 until 31 March 2024 business customers who have a contract with a licensed energy supplier will see a unit discount of up to £6.97 per mw/h automatically applied to their gas bill and a unit discount of up to £19.61 per mw/h applied to their electricity bill.

The government said this meant a typical pub would see a taxpayer funded discount of up to £2,300 over 12 months. A higher level of support will be provided to businesses that are "energy and trade intensive", such as manufacturing. The government did not confirm any other sectors considered part of this classification. Cartlidge said that the government would eventually remove all government support with energy bills. Hospitality trade bodies have responded to the cut in energy bill support from April, saying it is "unsustainable" and will be "the last straw" for some businesses. UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said the extension was "crucial", however the new, lower level of support will see a total £4.5b hike in bills for the sector compared to the previous scheme. "This will simply be unsustainable for many," she said, urging the government to consider other measures such as increasing the business rates relief cap.

Industry News

Single-Use Plastic Ban:

Single-use items such as plastic cutlery, plates and trays are to be banned in England in a bid to reduce pollution, the government has confirmed. Figures suggest that every year England uses about 1.1bn singleuse plates and 4.25bn pieces of such cutlery, only 10% of which are recycled after being used. Plastic items relating to takeaway food and drink, including food containers and cutlery, make up the largest share of litter in the world’s oceans, according to research. Now the environment secretary, Thérèse Coffey, is set to ban a suite of single-use plastic items, confirming reports made last month. The move follows a consultation on the issue by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) that ran from November 2021 to February 2022.

Fruit & Vegetables

What’s in season for January?

• Rhubarb

• Blood and Seville Oranges

• Nardicotts Root vegetables and brassicas such as:

• Purple Sprouting Broccoli,

• Carrots

• Swede

• Parsnips

• Celeriac

• Jerusalem Artichokes

• Beetroot

• Kale

• Cavalo Nero.

Fish & Seafood

What’s in season for January?

• Brill

• Clams

• Cockles

• Dab

• Flounder

• Gurnard (grey, red)

• Haddock

• Hake

• Halibut (farmed)

• Mackerel

• Monkfish

• Mussels

• Oysters

• Pike

• Pollock

• Sole (Dover/Common, Lemon, Witch/Torbay)

• Trout (Rainbow)

• Turbot (Wild