Call to soften impact of fuel price hikes on businesses
Haulage contractors in Angus, the Mearns and Fife have hit out at the rising cost of fuel.
- By Chris Hardy and Aileen Robertson
- Published in the Courier : 11.08.10
- Published online : 11.08.10 @ 07.25am
Increasing oil costs, VAT and fuel duty will see the average cost rise by 8% by the start of next year to almost 126p a litre, or £6 a gallon.
In the Highlands, motorists are already being punished, with some forecourts charging nearly 127p a litre. The hike would see isolated businesses pay a crippling 136p a litre.
"It is murder," said Doug Mitchell, of Laurencekirk, who has 10 lorries on the road dealing mainly with the agricultural industry.
"It is one price increase after another. If we raise our charges it's just to maintain running costs — it's not for profit.
"The rise in VAT will also hit us. It's an ongoing struggle and getting about impossible."
Montrose haulage contractor Brian McKay has calculated that his diesel is costing 14p a litre more than at this time last year.
"The cost per litre is 10p more and added to that is the VAT increase," he said. "We operate a fuel surcharge for most of our customers so they see clearly where the increases are.
"At the moment it doesn't seem to be affecting business but who knows what will happen if fuel increases continue to push up costs."
It has also been claimed that rocketing fuel prices will deal a "lethal blow" to Fife firms, business leaders warned.
Janet Torley, who chairs the Fife branch of the Federation of Small Businesses, urged the government to ease the burden on companies being hammered by the economic downturn.
"This is just another lethal blow to many businesses," she said, "especially people carrying out deliveries and hauliers. It's devastating.
"When they are setting all these wonderful prices in England they fail to realise that fuel is the lifeblood of a lot of small businesses further north in Scotland and in places like Fife, especially when we've got such poor public transport.
"Particularly in the East Neuk people are reliant on their own vehicles and, with the fragile economic recovery, they do not need any additional burden.
'Burden'
"The government should be called upon to look at this very carefully and do whatever they can to ease this burden."
Chief executive of Fife Chamber of Commerce Alan Russell joined Mrs Torley in asking the government to soften the blow to businesses.
He said some businesses, particularly transport and haulage firms, could struggle to stay afloat if the government ignores the warning.
Mr Russell said, "It's not good news for businesses across the spectrum who have rising costs. That in turn will put pressure on jobs.
"With cutbacks in the public sector we are relying on the private sector to create economic growth and bring people back into employment.
"Any increase in costs will not help and could have a negative impact on the future of the economy," he added.
"Some businesses have been very resilient in the last two years during a deep recession but adding further pressures could mean businesses might find it very difficult to continue, particularly those most reliant on fuel.
"That is an opportunity for the government to soften the blow by reducing fuel duty, not just for businesses but for everybody, because everybody uses fuel."
Image used under Creative Commons licence courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
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