Cost of living crisis: Shopkeepers in deprived Sheffield suburb fight for survival

Published 7th Sep 2022, 10:51 BST

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Shopkeepers in a deprived Sheffield suburb are fighting for survival after energy bills quadrupled and hard-pressed customers tighten their belts.

Retailers in Page Hall are working on desperate measures to survive including redundancies, switching off machinery and opening fewer days.

But while their will to survive is strong, the sums simply don’t add up and they say they need the government to urgently do something.

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Azad Hussinpour, of Mix Potraviny food store on Page Hall Road, says the cost of running one of his large display fridges has leapt from £130 to £750 a month.

Azad Hussinpour, of Mix Potraviny food store on Page Hall Road, says the cost of running one of his large display fridges has leapt from £130 to £750 a month.

Azad Hussinpour, of Mix Potraviny food store on Page Hall Road, says the cost of running one of his large display fridges has leapt from £130 to £750 a month.

The staggering increase has forced him turn off the one containing soft drinks.

He said: “The government needs to help small shops. They're helping big shops but for us there’s nothing.”

Yasmen Rubina, of Saadees womenswear on Page Hall Road, has seen her electricity bill quadruple from £70 per month to £280.

Mix Potraviny food store, on Page Hall Road, is among dozens of small retailers facing rocketing energy prices in the city.

Mix Potraviny food store, on Page Hall Road, is among dozens of small retailers facing rocketing energy prices in the city.

But customers facing their own energy price increases are spending less. And even the twice-yearly Eid tradition of families buying new clothes is petering out, she says.

She added: “It’s hard to save electricity. If we turn off half the lights no one comes in.”

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Amjad Yasin, of Arshad Textiles on Rushby Street, said the eight-strong business might have to lose staff and go down to five days a week.

Amjad Yasin, of Arshad Textiles on Rushby Street, said the eight-strong business might have to lose staff and go down to five days a week.

Amjad Yasin, of Arshad Textiles on Rushby Street, said the eight-strong business might have to lose staff and go down to five days a week.

He added: “We are a luxury and already people are spending less. We started the year really well, before the Ukraine war. But energy prices are sky high now and winter, when we have to use the heating, will be worse.”

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The Star has written an open letter to new Prime Minister Liz Truss urging her to prevent Sheffielders freezing and starving this winter.

It calls for radical action to bring bills down to prevent a cost-of-living catastrophe in our city.

Yasmen Rubina, of Saadees womenswear on Page Hall Road, has seen her electricity bill soar from £70 per month to £280.

Yasmen Rubina, of Saadees womenswear on Page Hall Road, has seen her electricity bill soar from £70 per month to £280.

It stated: “Businesses will fold, many people will go cold, hungry or both and some will die unless you, Ms Truss, take radical action immediately.

“Soaring energy bills and eye-watering inflation not only threaten every family in the land but pose a life and death challenge to many of our smallest businesses and pubs too - on whom our communities and many of our jobs depend.”

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