Budget 2013: Fuel duty reprieve, but prices ‘too high’ (From York Press)

Budget 2013: Fuel duty reprieve, but prices ‘too high’

10:00am Thursday 21st March 2013 in Sport

THE decision of the Chancellor to cancel the three pence increase in fuel duty scheduled for September has eased threats to businesses.

Simon Williams, owner of York-based same-day courier business Yorkshire Express Services Ltd, said he was pleased because the prospect of the looming increase was a worry, but fuel prices still remained too high.

He said: “The three pence in September was a real serious issue from our point of view. It would have been a cost that would have had to be passed on to our customer, so the fact that we don’t have to do that is good. I’m pleased he’s not putting the three pence on it.”

He said had it gone ahead, the knock-on effect would have been that customers would reassess their costs and consider whether they carried on using couriers.

He said: “It would have put drivers out of work because people would have been tightening their belts. I’m not saying everybody’s going to rush out and start using couriers, it just means that costs will stay as they are.

“The price of fuel is way too high. We still have the highest prices in Europe and taxation does make up 60 per cent of it. It’s still a big problem for us.”