MEMBERS UPDATE - 14TH JULY 2023 - Scottish Craft Butchers

Trading Conditions (Please can you reply by Monday 17th July)

Please can any member give me a brief update on trading conditions.
We would be interested in your views on the following;
Consumer demand (Your view on customer numbers and spend with you. Is your footfall up or down and are customers spending more, less or the same. What are the key challenges for you?).
Input Costs (What are the challenges? Are any input cost increases slowing or are they going up drastically?)
Labour availability (Are you able to recruit new members of staff that you require?)
Investment (Are you currently investing further in your business or holding back? What are the challenges?)
All information you supply to the office will be held confidentially. A general overview on our sector will be passed to Quality Meat Scotland for a meeting they have with the Bank of England representative in Scotland as they will feed this into the interest rate setting process.

Supply Issues

If any member is having issues with supply of beef and lamb. Please contact me at the office and I will assist where possible. Tel: 01738 637472

Update on the Government Energy discount schemes.

With most butchers still struggling with high priced energy bills, here is an update on the various government schemes which are still available.

The first discount scheme EBRS Ran from 1st October 2022 until 31st March 2023. This was the best discount scheme butchers could benefit from. Discounts on contracts signed from February 2022 until December 2022.
From September 2022 until end of December when the wholesale market was at it's highest, the discount was anywhere from 40p-50p off a unit. But customers had contracts at 80-90pkwh.

The second discount scheme EBDS will run from 1st April until 31st March 2024. This discount scheme is a poor reflection on the first. Customers who were benefiting from 40-50pkwh off on contracts signed in Oct-Nov 2022 are now getting under 2p per kwh.

ETII- Energy Trade intensive industry scheme runs from 1st April until 31st March 2024. Unlike the other 2 schemes which the discount automatically comes off your bill, Butchers have to apply for this scheme. Again Butchers would only get a discount if they signed contracts between June 2022 and January 2023.
Unfortunately depending on market prices at the time of contract lock in, the most a butcher could get off their bill is 6-8pkwh. Most butchers that have applied for this scheme (spending many hours updating and collating the required information have not met the requirements). Why not? There was a SIC code (Standard industry classification) pertaining to the industry. No-one at the ETII call centre seems to know?

In our view the misinformation surrounding these schemes has been poorly handled by the government. Energy Companies, ETII call centre operators, Brokers have all given out wrong advice because of lack of transparency from the government.

The only good news for all SME business in the UK is energy prices continue to fall, albeit in slower increments, so if butchers signed contracts for 12 months last September-January in the coming months you should see big drops from your current prices.

Best,

Mark Livingston
Energy & Utilities Consultant
DIRECT ENERGY & UTILITIES
Office 11, Arran House Business Centre, Arran Road, Perth, PH1 3DZ
T: 01738 270592
M: 07762 945 281
E: [email protected]
W: www.direct-energy.net

Scottish Craft Butchers Singles Golf Competition

Please have your entry in by 19th July 2023

• Tea/Coffee & hot roll on arrival.
• 1 Round Golf – First Tee off time 12:30
• 2 Course Meal
• First 28 entries only accepted.
• Entry Fee Â£60.00 payable in advance.
• In the event of a tie inward half is compared first.
• Competitors will be notified of tee-off times in advance.
• Presentation of prizes will take place after the meal:
Singles Winner, Silent Pairs, Longest Drive and Nearest the Pin.

Entry Form Attached to this email.

Steak Pie and Speciality Meat Pie Product Evaluations

A COMPETITION TO FIND SCOTLAND'S
BEST SPECIALITY ASHETTE PIES

The Category winner will receive a Diamond award certificate.
Gold and Silver Awards to all those worthy of such recognition.

News

MEMBERS UPDATE – 14TH JULY 2023