Coming out of a two-year pandemic and going into a possible national recession, a Croydon businessman says that he “can’t do much” and will just “have to wait for good times”
Starting in 2020, the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic has affected the personal lives of almost everyone. But it has also had a lasting impact on small businesses. More recently, the cost-of-living crisis has affected them too.
Although his business did not change much during Covid-19, the owner of a local butcher’s in central Croydon says that it has had longer-term consequences. He said that “footfall on the high street decreased” leading to fewer people buying from him. The pandemic changed how people buy their groceries. This has continued to be the case, meaning that fewer people go past his shop as they are, instead, shopping online. He also added that Brexit affected the number of European customers buying from him. Generally, the volume of customers has decreased drastically.
Higher energy prices have had a huge effect on his business’s monthly electricity bill. Energy prices have been the driving factor of the cost-of-living crisis, especially since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. In particular, gas prices have increased, on average, by over 95% and electricity prices by 54% since September 2021, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The shop owner also said that he has had to increase the wages he pays to his staff to help them afford everyday essentials, with the cost of almost everything increasing. Sadly, despite many businesses giving pay rises, average real income is decreasing as a result of product prices rising substantially faster than wages.
Faced with higher costs, he said he has had to increase his prices to try to maintain his business margin. However, his customers will also have been cutting down on how much meat they buy to try to manage their own rising cost of living. The ONS reports a 10.1% increase in the cost of living between September of 2021 and 2022. This is the fastest rise in 40 years and food prices have been a key part of it. Their data shows that prices of lamb, chicken and other poultry have increased by over 17% and beef has risen by 13.9%.
All of this means that his turnover is now lower. He says that he can’t do much about it; instead, he will just “have to wait for good times”, which he does not expect to see any time soon. He said that, due to the current economic crisis, he does not expect things to go back to how they were before 2020 for at least another “6-7 years”.
