Issue #42 - It's not a price cap! ⬇
How does the Business Energy Relief Scheme work? | How to claim a small business tax refund | How to boost business this Halloween | Beware energy price cap scams | Tunes | Podcasts | More
🦾 G O
How does the Energy Bill Relief Scheme work? 💡
Welcome to Issue #42 of The Backbone - the fortnightly newsletter from Bionic.
Last time out we explained why it was unlikely that the government would be able to cap rates for business energy, the way it does for household energy bills. And it seems we were right. The Energy Bill Relief Scheme isn’t a cap on business energy rates - it’s a discount on business energy rates.
Before we explain how it works, here’s a quick recap on what makes up your energy rates. To keep it simple, there are basically two costs involved:
Wholesale price - This is the amount suppliers pay for the energy they sell to you. This is the part that will be discounted.
Other costs - This includes things like supplier margins, distribution costs, and green levies. The green levies will be removed as part of the scheme but the rest of the costs will remain unchanged.
Instead of capping business energy rates from October 1, the government will discount the wholesale price that suppliers pay for energy.
For the next six months, suppliers will pay no more than 21.1p per kWh of electricity and 7.5p per kWh of gas. This is known as the government baseline wholesale price. This amount will be deducted from the portion of your rates made up by wholesale energy costs.
Here’s an example of how it could work for someone on a fixed-rate business electricity deal*
There's also a ceiling on the amount of discount the government will provide. This is currently set at 40.5p per kWh of electricity and 11.5p per kWh of gas. This means that the higher your rates, the higher your bills will be, even once the discount has been applied.
Here’s an example of how it could work for someone on out-of-contract business electricity rates*
For more info, check out our guide - Does the energy price cap apply to businesses?
This guide also explains why your domestic bills aren’t actually capped at £2,500 a year, despite what the headlines might suggest.
What are your thoughts on the government’s support packages? Let us know 👇
📨 S U B S C R I B E
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🗞 R E A D
How to claim a small business tax refund
Getting your head around tax refunds and returns can be a real struggle if you’re a small business owner, especially if you have other worries on your plate. But if you’ve paid too much tax, you’ll want to know how to claim your money back as quickly as possible. Read this Bionic guide to find out how to start the process.
How to boost business this Halloween
We’ve no idea where 2022 has gone, but it’s already time to start thinking about Halloween (it’s October on Sunday, we don’t make the rules). We’ve come up with tips and tricks to help boost your business. Even if you’re not too sold on the season of the witch, we've got a few ideas that could help to fill your coffers without the need for coffins and cobwebs.
🗣 S H O U T O U T
#BionicBusinessStory - 5 businesses, 1 question 🤔
We love hearing all about how small business owners got to where they are. The stories of how they’ve built their business, the things that keep them awake at night, their biggest achievements, and how they cope when life feels like it’s going at 60 miles an hour. We asked five business owners one simple question, and here’s how they answered…
Bionic: How do you advertise your business?
🏰 “On the whole, our campaigns for Halloween events have been digital and social media-heavy but we also use advertising on buses. We’ve added Snapchat and TikTok advertising campaigns to the mix to reach a younger local audience too.” Jess Cutts - Hever Castle Events
🍰 “Social media has played a huge part in getting my name out to the public. If it wasn't for Facebook and Instagram, I'd still only be getting orders from close friends and family. These platforms have allowed me to advertise to a much wider audience and get my name out there. They’ve given me a place to show my work and gain feedback from customers and people visiting my pages.” Heidi Kay - Handmade by Heidi
💐 “ We have Facebook and Instagram, but our social media is used more like a shop window rather than to advertise, people can go on our pages and see what we offer.” Sue Colledge - Colledge’s Florists
🍩 “Social media is our main way of marketing, but we also do lots of events. Just getting our brand name out there is important.” Wade Smith - Doughnotts
💍 “We usually find our customers in two ways. Half of them are word of mouth, people remembering us from Topshop or walking past and seeing what we do. The other half are from social media. We mostly advertise and show off our portfolio on Instagram.” Ben Harris - Metal Morphosis
📩 J O I N
Get involved with our business community 🔊
Share your thoughts and tips to give other busy business owners a helping hand. Or ask a question to see if anyone can help you out.
Get your business costs sorted 💷
Bionic - the business price comparison experts - compare a range of business essentials to help you save time, money, and hassle.
Our tech-enabled team will answer all your questions in simple terms, and help you find the best deal on business energy, insurance, phone, broadband, or finance. No jargon. No-fuss. #BeABionicBusiness 🦾
Here’s what another HAPpy Bionic customer had to say 👇
Check out more ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Trustpilot reviews
🤳 S O C I A L
Beware Energy Price Guarantee scams
The Energy Price Guarantee is the government’s replacement for the energy price cap. It will cap the unit rate of gas at 10.30p per kWh and electricity at 34.00p per kWh for the next two years.
It will also be applied automatically. There’s no need for you to do anything. So watch out for scams like this one 👇
Find out more at the BBC website.
🎧 L I S T E N
Playlist
At first glance, this week’s playlist is one for the real music nerds as it’s made up of songs that have been produced on a TR-909 drum machine. But you might know more songs than you think - Da Funk by Daft Punk, Sussudio by Phil Collins, Loaded by Primal Scream, Too Funky by George Michael, Vogue by Madonna, Feel for You by Bob Sinclar…the list goes on.
Podcast
Legendary record producer Rick Rubin (Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Johnny Cash, and loads more) is joined by Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam, and Justin Richmond to talk to musicians from all genres - from Tom Jones to Missy Elliot, via Jack White, Beach House, and more - about their life, inspiration, and craft.
👩🤝👩🏾 S H A R E
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🏡 H O U S E K E E P I N G
Check your folders 📁
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🚫 S T O P
Thanks for making it to the end of another Bionic bulletin 🤝🏻
Did you spot all the New Order references in the last issue? Here they are…
Please leave a comment and let us know if there’s anything else we should be featuring.
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*Please note, all figures are just illustrations of how the Energy Bill Relief Scheme could work, and not yet exampled of the final legislation.