The Ship pub in Levington, Ipswich hit with £71k bill

The Ship Inn at Levington, a village pub along the River Orwell near Ipswich, has received an electricity bill of £71,015.58 for the period from January to September 2023.

The bill for the 12 months previous to that came to around £30,000.

The village pub seats 50 to 60 people, and is owned by Steve Lomas as one of eight pubs in Suffolk's Deben Inns group.

According to Mr Lomas, one of his pubs fell out of contract in early December 2022, when three of the big six energy companies would not entertain quoting for hospitality businesses due to their potential vulnerability.

The Ship in Levington, near Ipswich (Image: Newsquest)

While Mr Lomas’ previous contracted rate was 15p per kWh, the best value quote he could find in December was from British Gas Lite at 66.5p per kWh, and falling out of contract meant a rate of £1.13 per kWh.

Mr Lomas said: “It is scandalous as we were forced to sign for a minimum of a year, and prices have since dropped significantly.

“I don’t believe it is unreasonable to hope that energy companies should be encouraged to help alleviate the situation in some way.

"Both business in general and the taxpayers are being taken for a ride. 

“Thanks to our longevity as a local family business, my amazing team’s hard work, and our loyal customer base we have been able to navigate such challenges.

Steve Lomas of Deben Inns (Image: Deben Inns)

"But I am convinced that many within our sector, through absolutely no fault of their own, may not be so fortunate.” 

The business owner added that his bills included the government's discount schemes and the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, which ceased in March 2023.

A British Gas spokesman said: “The bill is based on unpaid energy from December 2022 to September 2023.

"We understand the difficulties businesses are facing right now and we’re in the process of reaching out to The Ship Inn to discuss any assistance available to them.”