Cost of Living: Coventry butcher sees 'energy bill double'

A butcher says the family business's energy bill has doubled due to the rising cost of living.

Taylors Butchers in Earlsdon, Coventry, has been trading since 1938 and has recently seen the electricity bill for the shop jump from £1,000 to £2,000 a month, says director Stuart Taylor.

Mr Taylor said food prices had also been "going up steadily for a while".

As a result, he added, the business had raised prices for customers, but would "try not to push prices up too much".

Trade, however, had "stayed stable and normal", as cost-of-living pressures meant "people tend to go out less and spend more on home cooking".

Mr Taylor said beef and lamb had been steadily increasing in price, with chicken going up over the last 10 to 12 days.

He said the hike was due to the increased price of fuel and animal feed, adding the feed came from the UK and Ukraine, with UK sources growing in demand.

Mr Taylor said he hoped for reduced VAT to help businesses weather difficulties.

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