A restaurant has estimated they would need to sell coffees for as much as £14 to cover costs after learning their bills are due to be five times as much next year. Chris and Anna Vidler run The Lane, an independent restaurant in Deal, Kent - and are facing rising bills.
The married couple say after the new year comes, both their gas and electric bills will rocket to more than five times the price they are currently playing. Chris calculated that to keep up with the rising rate, their £2.90 latte would have to shoot up - to £14.30.
Chris said: "We are already down, despite a reasonably busy summer. We're noticing empty seats because people are staying home when they don't have as much money to spend."
Chris said when his electricity contract runs out at the end of this year, the new quotes takes the price from £15,000 per year to around £69,000. At the end of February their gas contract will also need to be renewed - with the new quote set to take them from around £400 per month to around £2,400.
According to Chris' calculations, this means to raise the price of their £2.90 latte by the same amount as their bills would increase, it would be £14.30. He said: "If we accepted that contract with that quote, that would be business suicide."
Chris says while the PM has introduced the cap on energy for households, as a business owner he is left confused about what to do. Chris hopes that help will come to make it possible for the business to stay afloat, and continue paying 25 staff members.
But he has yet to sign any new contract for next year when his current gas and energy contracts are up - because he can't find anything he can afford. He said: "There's not really a lot of information for us out there.
"I can't pay extortionate bills. It's not possible. We struggle to make ends meet every month and have to go into our overdraft to pay the bills and our staff wages.
"It's really hard. We've lost a lot of sleep over it."
