'I'm worried my shop won't survive the year'

Sean said he sees rafts of businesses closing down due to rising costs

Inflation fell to 3.2%, down from 3.4%, with one business owner saying he’s worried his shop won’t survive.

The drop was largely due to food prices slowing sharply, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Inflation, the rate at which prices rise over time, has been falling gradually since it peaked in late 2022.

Sean McLaughlin, who opened Kraken fish and chip shop in Portrush in 2019, said the business will not exist in a year’s time unless price increases scale back.

Wednesday’s new figures, measuring the year to March, mean that the cost of living stands at its lowest level in two and a half years.

When his business opened, Mr McLaughlin was charging about £8.50 for a fish supper but with the cost of potatoes and other items doubling, he has had to put up his prices to £14 for the same order.

“There will come a time when I can’t continue to keep putting up prices to facilitate rising costs. We are at the ceiling of where people are prepared to pay and what they can afford to pay,” he said.

Mr McLaughlin said families are his main customers and the price of a meal for a family of four has increased by “£18 to £20”.

“That’s not something that we want to do, it’s something we have had to do,” he added.

High food and energy bills as well as increased labour costs mean he had to make some difficult decisions, like cutting back staffing levels and operating hours.

“We had at one point in time 14 to 15 staff – we’re now down to four. We are now more self-service. We’ve had to reduce our operating hours and stop a seven day week and we’ve moved away from some of the more expensive cuts of fish.”

Are inflationary pressures easing?

According to Mr McLaughlin, electric might be coming down but it’s “no saving grace or any hallelujahs” at the moment.

“We are hearing again warnings about crop shortages of potatoes – what I would like to see is core produce coming down, that would have a bigger impact on our business.”

He added that he has seen multiple businesses close after being unable to keep up with rising costs.

“We are seeing rafts of business closures, with award-winning businesses re-looking at what they do and we are seeing smaller independents being lost every day.

“We couldn’t sustain many more increases, I don’t think this business would exist in a year’s time unless prices start to scale back.

“It’s not something that is financially viable if it does which is sad because it is a good strong business but if the numbers don’t stack, decisions have to be made,” he added.