The owner of a family-run nursery chain, which is set to launch a new setting in Harrogate, says he is preparing to “get stung” by rising energy prices.

Matthew Dawson, director of Children’s Corner Childcare, said he had already seen a significant rise in energy bills at his six Leeds nurseries over the last 18 months – including almost double in some cases.

The nursery is set to open a branch at Central House, on Otley Road, in April, when the price hike is introduced.

Mr Dawson said:

“We have several utilities contracts due to run out in the coming months and as such are likely to get stung by the ever increasing costs of keeping our buildings warm.

“This is especially important when looking after young children as we do and not something where corners can be cut.

“Our newest site in Harrogate has a number of obstacles in terms of its energy efficiency which are going to have to be addressed.”

Mr Dawson said the nursery was going to have “the most energy efficient heating system we could find” installed to help mitigate rising costs, as well as investing in insulating the building further.

He added:

“This will not only reduce our ongoing energy bills, but also to reduce our environmental impact as well.

“This will come at a significant cost to the business at a time when margins are squeezed ever tighter by other increasing extraneous costs.”

£80 a month more to pay

For Knaresborough family-of-three, the Hobsons, the energy bills are set to go up by at least £80 per month.

Regional sales director Mike Hobson, who lives with his wife Hannah and their eight-year-old daughter Grace, said:

“This isn’t sustainable and it is now eating into other areas of living costs, especially with all the extra expenditure at the moment, including inflation.

“We were paying £160 a month and we are now paying £240 – for a family-of-three, that’s an extra £1,000 a year.”

From left to right, Grace, Hannah and Mike Hobson, from Knaresborough.

However, the price hike is not just set to hit families and homeowners, with the majority of residents across the Harrogate district set to feel the pinch.

Read more:

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Catherine Aletta, a junior digital designer at Cloud Nine, which is based at Hornbeam Park, rents a two-bedroom flat near Harrogate town centre with her partner.

She said:

“Energy prices are already a big chunk of monthly outgoings. As prices are set to rise even further, we are both concerned that it will have a big impact on us. The monthly bills are already a consideration to our lifestyle and if they do go up, we will have to start looking at how we possibly cut back on other things.

“We are both very conscious of our energy consumption and do our best to reduce our usage to keep the monthly bills manageable. We use the timer to restrict the amount of time the heating is on, we turn off lights as we leave rooms and make sure we don’t leave the TV on when we are not watching it.

“We have lived in our apartment for six months and we have noticed that the prices have already gone up. Obviously we have had the heating on quite a lot in recent months due to the cold weather, but it is a concern for next winter. If the prices go up even further, we will start to struggle.”

Catherine Aletta.

The price rise comes after the energy regulator, Ofgem, lifted the maximum rate that suppliers can charge for an average duel-fuel energy tariff by £693 — an increase of 54 per cent.

This is to reflect the fourfold increase in energy market prices over the last year.

Harrogate district residents will be among the hardest hit by the energy crisis with households paying around £796 more this year, according to analysis by the Liberal Democrats.

The Lib Dems have hit out at government proposals to deal with soaring energy bills and urged Chancellor Rishi Sunak to scrap the planned National Insurance tax hike, which will pile further pressure on household budgets from April.

Their calls come as figures show the Harrogate district will be the 12th hardest hit area in England during the energy price hikes.

Bryn Griffiths

Councillor Bryn Griffiths, leader of the Lib Dems on North Yorkshire County Council, said:

“Residents across North Yorkshire have been sorely let down by this Conservative government, they are shouldering the financial pain of Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s poor decisions.

“The Lib Dems demand better and object to the Chancellor’s approach, he is not fit to lead.”

Windfall tax

The Lib Dems are also calling for a windfall tax on big profit oil and gas companies, something Spain’s left-wing government has already announced.

However, the UK government has argued that a one-off tax like this would stop companies investing as it also defended its own plans for a repayable £200 discount on all energy bills and a further £150 council tax rebate for most households.

Andrew Jones

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones said:

“I understand the arguments for a windfall tax and can see it is superficially attractive.

“But we can only tax UK companies and the current tax rate on oil and gas profits is already 40% – double that on most other sectors of the economy.

“In the gas and oil industry we have investment needs of £11bn in an industry and supply chain which supports almost 200,000 jobs.

“Putting that investment and those jobs at risk would be a very dangerous and potentially hugely damaging blow to British industry.”

“Global gas prices are high due to various factors but primarily driven by an increase in demand, a reduction in the availability and because the number of suppliers and the length of the supply chains has decreased.

“Many expect these changes to be medium-term effects and that the factors that have driven the price increase will ease but not totally disappear.

“Anyone claiming that there is a way of avoiding these global higher energy prices for domestic customers going forward is simply making it up.”

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• Administrators reveal state of Harrogate firm CNG Energy’s finances

Council tax rebate

The council tax rebate will apply from April to homes in council tax bands A to D, benefiting around 52,000 households in the Harrogate district.

It will be made directly by Harrogate Borough Council and will not need to be repaid.

The further £200 discount on energy bills will apply to all domestic electricity customers from October, with the government meeting the costs.

However, unlike the council tax rebate, this discount will be automatically recovered from people’s bills in equal £40 instalments over a five year period from 2023, when it is hoped global wholesale gas prices will have come down.

Announcing the measures earlier this month, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said:

“I know the number one issue on people’s minds is the rising cost of living.

“That’s why the government is stepping in with direct support that will help around 28 million households with their rising energy costs over the next year.

“We stood behind British people and businesses throughout the pandemic and it’s right we continue to do that as our economy recovers in the months ahead.”