Iceland boss Richard Walker has urged ministers to issue more support for businesses struggling with soaring energy bills.
According to CityAM, the managing director of the frozen food retailer said without a price cap on businesses’ energy bills, smaller businesses will collapse.
Walker also claimed an absence of further support for firms was “really serious,” as the temperatures start to drop.
“They need to do something,” he said, pointing to a variety of measures including a price cap for businesses, under-writing energy bill loans, plus specific tax deductions on energy,” Walker said.
“There’s a lot of different things they can do. If they don’t, it will mean bankruptcy, job losses and further price rises for consumers.”
READ MORE: Iceland partners with Utilita to help households save £604 on energy bills
Meanwhile, Walker added that the business has been “through the roof” in recent months.
“There’s not much we can do, that’s the reality,” Walker said. “It’s very, very challenging.”
As a result, Walker called on ministers to “step up and do more” to help struggling households while it was “incumbent” for every business to do what they could to help customers.
“Support would also “make long term business sense,” as shoppers would “remember it [the help] in the good times,” he said.
This comes as Iceland announced its debt rating has downgraded by Moody’s after the grocer fell to a pre-tax loss last year.
According to new filings on Companies House, Iceland revealed a pre-tax loss of £4.1 million for the year ended 25 March. This was compared with a profit of £71.3 million in the year prior, which was boosted by Covid demand.
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