Retailers set to face further staff shortages towards Christmas due to energy costs

Retail Excellence Ireland said a small business owner who previously spent €20k-€30k a year on energy is now looking at annual bills in the region of €120,000

Convenience stores are among the worst impacted by soaring energy costs due to their long opening hours, said cheif executive of Retail Excellence Ireland Duncan Graham. Stock picture: Getty

A retail representative body warned that the industry could face further staff shortages as businesses prioritise paying high energy bills as winter looms closer.

Retail Excellence Ireland said that a small business owner with a few shops that previously paid €20,000-€30,000 a year on their energy bills is now looking at bills in the region of €120,000 a year.

“I think staffing will be impacted,” said Retail Excellence Ireland chief executive Duncan Graham. 

"We don’t have enough people in retail at the moment, but I think businesses will be forced into a situation where they say: ‘Do I employ temporary workers up to Christmas when I’ve got these soaring energy costs?’."  

Established in 1995, Retail Excellence Ireland is one of the largest industry representative groups in Ireland, with around 2,000 members that operate in the Irish market.

Convenience stores are among the worst impacted by soaring energy costs due to their long opening hours, said Mr Graham.

Retailers are saying to me that if we continue and there is no support, then we’ve got a choice of do we employ additional people through Christmas, do we turn the lights off early, do we simply go under. 

 Businesses are anticipating measures to help tackle high costs in the upcoming budget, such as energy credits. However, Mr Graham indicated that measures introduced in Greece would also be welcome.

In July, Greece extended subsidies to power bills at a cost of more than €700m in an effort to shore up households and businesses following many months of rising energy prices.

“We need to deal with this impending crisis at the moment, which will be the third Christmas that has been really difficult,” said Mr Graham.

It is anticipated that there will be several supports in this year’s budget for businesses that are under pressure from high costs.

“I do recognise that the issue of energy costs are significant for them [SMEs] and that will have to feature in the consideration that myself and Minister [Michael] McGrath will give to measures later on in 2022,” said Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe.

The European Commission introduced a range of measures to help battle the effects of the energy crisis. These include smart savings of electricity and a cap on the revenues of companies that are producing electricity with low costs.

“These are tough times and they are not over soon,” said EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen as she announced the measures yesterday.