Workington’s only escape room said it was facing certain closure after being hit with a catastrophic energy bill hike of £26,500.
Its owners were told by its energy supplier that the normal annual charge of £5,884 would jump to £32,435 from March.
Owner Carol Watson said: “We’ve been on a fixed contract for two maybe three years now and we had the renewal through the other day and we’ve gone from £5,884 to £32,435, which I’ve now managed to get down to £29,500 with the help of a broker.
“Our reaction was just shock and that the business will have to shut. We won’t have a business this time next year if those are the energy prices we’ve got, we can’t open, we can’t pay bills that high.”
In an effort to keep energy bills low, the business has had to close to the public two-and-a-half days a week, but Carol said even that would not be enough to cover the costs.
She added: “We’re hoping to switch the heating off in April, but next September we can’t pay £2,500 a month, we just can’t do it.
“Even with reducing opening hours, come next September when we need the heating in full, we will have to close, there’s no doubt about that.”
Talking about the inspiration behind her business, Carol said she feared that leisure activities in the area were in danger of disappearing altogether under the threat of the rising energy costs.
She said: “Escape rooms were just something we enjoyed doing ourselves and we thought, there is very little to do around here, there’s even less now than when we first opened, but we thought we’d bring something to our town. They’re an escape from reality, which is something I think everyone needs at the moment.
“If we go, there’s nothing left, there’s absolutely no leisure things in Workington – it’s definitely a case of use it or lose it, but we’re going to lose it any way because no matter how many customers we get through the door, we can’t pay those bills.
“We’ve been open five-and-a-half years since April 2017. I can’t get my head around how we got through the pandemic but we were closed, it was never a case of worrying the business would not survive, how can we be open and trading and know next time this year we won’t be here because energy prices are the way they are and we can’t pay them?”
“We posted on Facebook so people realise what businesses are facing, because a lot of people think the solution to them being able to pay their own bills is to put wages up and everything will be fine, but it’s a vicious circle.”
Carol said that in response to her post on social media, local businesses and customers had reached out and offered their support.
She said: “We have had local support; customers have said they will book, Lakes College have said they will get big groups in to help, but it’s not a long-term solution, it doesn’t cover the energy bills.
“Another local business Mark Buchanan Personal Property Experts bought a gift voucher and raffled it off and I’m in touch with another business to pay it forward and raise awareness of it all, because I know what is going to happen to us this time next year and I can’t imagine it will be different for a lot of businesses.”
While businesses are set to receive support until the end of March 2023, with government spending now under close review, business owners are fearing what will come after the spring.
With no energy price cap in place for firms, Carol said she felt let down by the Government. She added: “They need to do something to stop this because it’s not just us, it’s pretty much every small business. I don’t see how they will survive.
“The Government might announce something but that doesn’t mean it’s going to happen because they go back and revoke it.
“There is support that they have put in place, kilowatt per hour is the same as residential until March but there’s no price cap for businesses so the bill keeps going up for us and at the end of March it will be nearly £9,000 we’re paying.
“We need a price cap to stop the energy prices being so high and constantly rising. The Government need to stop the rise for businesses and residential because people just can’t afford to pay them.”
Lakes Escapes offer six themed escape rooms for family, friends or corporate groups. Each room welcomes up to eight players who are tasked with working together to solve challenges in the room to complete the game’s objective.
Carol added that while urgent Government support was needed, all support, including booking an escape room or sharing posts to raise awareness and visibility of the business, were greatly appreciated.
To find out more about how to book an escape room, visit www.lakesescapes.co.uk
