PRICE PAIN PANDEMIC: 14 Million Struggle to Survive While Shops Face ‘DEATH KNELL’ in Cost-of-Living Crisis

Which? says businesses should be doing everything they can to help their customers.

According to research from the consumer association half of households are struggling to afford essentials and dipping into saving to pay for everyday items. The war in the middle east has pushed up the price of oil, gas, crop fertiliser and other raw materials and all of this adds up to a higher cost of living.

It also adds up to a higher cost of doing business. Small and micro businesses are already doing all they can to help their customers. The last thing a business owner wants to do is put up prices, especially when they are all too well aware that customers are struggling and cutting back. Trying to hold down prices in the current economic climate is an impossibility for most. They’ve cut costs to the bone and worry that putting up prices will be the death knell for their business. The picture is bleak for any business selling direct to cash strapped customers with the retail and hospitality sectors most at risk.

Which? has an insight tracker and its latest survey shows that rising prices are forcing half of households, to dip into savings, sell possessions or borrow money, just to cover the cost of everyday essentials. It’s hardly

Which? has an insight tracker and its latest survey shows that

surprising then that confidence in the future of the UK economy plummeted to -56 in the month to 13 March, down 13 points and the lowest since the end of 2022.

About two-thirds (67%) of us are expecting the economy to deteriorate over the next year. We may not be a pessimistic as we were during the pandemic but about 14 million households are struggling and savings are a lifeline rather than a safety net.

UK inflation is now expected to stay higher for longer. Before the conflict in the Middle East, UK inflation had been expected to fall to the Bank of England’s 2% target in the coming months, from 3% now. The Bank now expects the rate to rise to 3.5% and stick at more than a percentage point above target throughout 2026. Other forecasters put inflation at reaching 4% putting further pressure on households.

What all of this means for consumers is well documented. What is less talked about is the number of small and micro businesses quietly shutting up shop because the customers can no longer afford to spend. These business owners can’t afford to run their businesses, and many can’t afford to take home salaries and feed their own families, and that’s before rates, wages and taxes rise again next week.

Businesses are already doing all they can to help their customers sometimes at the cost of their own livelihoods.
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