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Firms urged to act over business rates
24th July 2008, Page 47
24th July 2008
Page 47
Page 47, 24th July 2008
— Firms urged to act over business rates
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OPERATORS ALREADY reeling from the soaring cost of fuel, with Brent oil trading at £146 a barrel, should sit down now. Analysts are predicting that other energy costs, such as gas and electricity, could rise by up to 40% by the end of 2008 under the influence of the volatile oil market.
Commercial energy users cannot benefit from easy comparison of prices in the way that domestic users can, because business tariffs tend not to be in the public domain.
However, that does not mean they will be tz, able to avoid the effects of the same rises. 5 Government ministers have avoided making their own estimates. and Ofgem's focus will be 3 on the consumer markets.