Soaring energy costs could lead to the closure of businesses across the Bournemouth region, the town's business improvement district (BID) has warned.
Bournemouth Coastal BID said the UK's energy crisis could also hit the town’s tourist industry, causing "irreparable harm".
With the holiday season coming to a close and winter looming, the costs will create a "perfect storm" that could hit some sectors harder than the Covid lockdowns did, the BID has said.
It is now urging the government to intervene or face collapsing companies and increasing job losses.
BID chairman Paul Clarke, who is also a hotelier, said: “Just as we were starting to get back to normal after the Covid lockdowns we are faced with something more damaging to business. Energy costs have spiralled and are now so great they simply wipe out profits and make businesses unsustainable.
“We are seeing pubs close daily and retail and hospitality businesses are teetering on the edge of a debt-created precipice. It is especially hard on hospitality and retailers because they were so affected in the town throughout the pandemic."
Mr Clarke said hospitality and retailers were assisted by targeted government interventions during the lockdowns - and now help was required for businesses amid the energy crisis.
“We are coming out of the summer season and energy use will rise as temperatures dip – it is a perfect storm. Businesses are seeing energy costs rise by tens – or even hundreds – of thousands of pounds. It is totally unsustainable."
Mr Clarke urged the new prime minister to make the energy crisis their "number one priority", adding: "The government must also look at a long-term solution enabling us to be energy self-sufficient.”
The Coastal BID represents businesses from Southbourne to Westbourne, an area that is heavily dominated by the hospitality and retail sectors.
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