Approximately a third (33%) of a diner’s restaurant bill goes towards paying the total cost of energy – according to new research from Uswitch for Business, the comparison service.
The survey of decision makers at restaurants across the UK highlights a growing concern among UK restaurants as they struggle to keep pace with rising bills.
Almost one in three (30%) said that their restaurant is operating at a lower capacity than this time last year, with an average capacity of 60%.
Unsurprisingly energy bills topped the long list of concerns (63%), followed by rent costs (30%), retaining customers (27%) and product inflation (26%).
In response to rising energy bills, restaurants are being proactive in making changes, with some cutting down the menu (16%), reducing portion sizes (13%) and introducing dishes to the menu which require less energy to create (14%).
Perhaps following the success of Veganuary, one in 10 (10%) say that they are moving the menu away from meat dishes to more cost effective ingredients.
Despite efforts to reduce consumption, restaurants are still facing challenges to keep their energy costs under control. One in five (20%) restaurants have had to raise prices to keep up with rising bills.
And if costs continue to rise, restaurateurs said they risk not being able to pay bills on time (21%), potentially need to downsize (19%) or make staff redundant (18%). Over seven in 10 (71%) said they expect costs to continue to rise this year.
Worryingly, more than one in ten (11%) of those surveyed admit they don’t know what type of business energy contract they are on, which means they could be at risk of overpaying. Restaurants on a deemed rate could be spending anywhere from 30 to 50% more than negotiated rates.
The data also reveals almost one in three restaurants are training all staff in energy efficiency measures (31%) and are restricting the use of air conditioning and heating (31%).
Unsurprisingly, three in 10 (30%) restaurants are only running a dishwasher when it’s full and almost one in four (22%) have resorted to closing the business during quieter times of the week.
