Energy issues could damage inward investment
HIGH energy prices and the lack of a coherent government strategy could be damaging to inward investment, according to senior business leaders.
Businesses have said that the government “bouncing” around energy ideas is of concern to UK business and also emphasised the effects of cheaper prices available to businesses outside of the country.
Speaking at a luncheon at the Cutlers’ Hall in Sheffield, Mark Broxholme, managing director of speciality steels at Tata Steel, said that businesses, such as his own, could save a huge sum of money by having sites elsewhere, due to the UK’s high energy prices. He said his business could save £30m by having a plant in Germany, rather than here. He said £400 worth of energy in the UK, would only cost £200 in Germany and said this money saved could be used for further investment.
“Energy prices are starting to effect our decisions. We have avoided getting jobs here because the energy is so much cheaper outside of the UK.
“Companies don’t make decisions based on the short-term. They need to understand what will happen and the absence of long-term strategies has a real effect on business because they can’t see what the future is going to be like.”
The business figures said that the government cannot forget about the importance of nuclear. Master Cutler, Tony Pedder, said energy is a topic he will keep on raising and feels “very strongly” about and will continue to “bang the drum”.
He said he thinks there are power stations that could be refurbished rather than shut down. “This could help a lot of businesses,” he said. “Refurbish some of the older ones and therefore keep some of the capacity up. I will keep banging the drum.”
Ian Nicholls, managing director of Vulcan Sheffield Forgemasters (a subsidiary of Sheffield Forgemasters), added: “The energy issues really affects investment into this country.
“The pace and effect of what is happening in the United States is incredible. There is no shadow of a doubt their costs of production are much cheaper.”
Andy Tuscher, regional director for the north of EEF, the manufacturers organisation, said: “We really feel that the government doesn’t have a coherent strategy. But we need to have that if we are going to get investment. The government bounce around energy and that is a concern.”
The Company of Cutlers dates back to 1624. The Master Cutler acts as an ambassador, representing the industries of the Sheffield region.
A memorial service for Sheffield-born former British Steel Corporation chairman Sir Robert Scholey, who died this month at the age of 92, will be held at the Cutlers Hall next month.
