Cost of living: Bath trader's sleepless nights over £100k energy bill

A business owner is enduring sleepless nights after being told her energy bills will rise to over £100,000.

Annette Dolan, who runs Bath Aqua Glass, currently pays £14,000 a year, but is facing the steep rise at the end of September when her contract ends.

She said it would mean the price of a vase made at her glassblowing studio in Bath rising from £45 to £350.

Some businesses are already facing price rises in excess of 200% as gas and electricity prices soar.

Ms Dolan said she was concerned for the future of her business.

The furnace at the Walcot Street business runs day and night, enabling staff to create handmade items including jewellery, jugs and stained glass.

But the increase has left Ms Dolan wondering how she is going to meet the costs.

"There's no way that we can actually operate at that level," she said.

"My bookkeeper and I are both having massive sleepless nights. We're both thinking, 'What are we going to do'?

"It's a nightmare. The brokers have been trying to get me to sign and I'm saying this is untenable, I cannot sign."

Ms Dolan has worked in the glassblowing business for 26 years and says she will do all she can to keep the firm running.

"Whether I'm going to save this business or not only the future will tell me, but I will do my damndest for all my staff and myself," she added.

Total Energies, Ms Dolan's energy provider, said it offered a range of products to suit customer needs and advised customers to contact them if they are having difficulty paying.

"We appreciate that unprecedented rises in wholesale gas and electricity markets and wider inflationary pressures are creating an extremely challenging operating environment for UK businesses," the company said in a statement.

The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy said: "No national government can control the global factors pushing up the price of energy, but we will continue to support business in navigating the months ahead.

"This includes doubling our support for high energy usage businesses, reducing employer national insurance by increasing the Employment Allowance, slashing fuel duty, introducing a 50% business rates relief and putting the brakes on bill increases by freezing the business rates multiplier - worth £4.6 billion over the next five years."

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