Businesses in York are demanding ‘instant action’ from the Prime Minister, otherwise many will collapse.

David Skaith, chairman of the York High Street Forum said of Liz Truss: “She’s a terrible candidate (but) someone has to do it, I guess,”

Mr Skaith continued: “The concern is we haven’t heard much from them in the past couple of weeks about what they are going to do in the high street.

“Things need to happen quickly. We are seeing businesses close on a daily basis. If we don’t get ahead of this and implement plans, energy caps on businesses, pausing of business rates, looking at the VAT rates as well, if we are not going to do these things instantly, we are going to see hundreds of businesses in York alone, not making it through Christmas. We need action now.”

The owner of the Winston’s of York clothing store says the energy crisis comes on top of two years of Covid-related lockdowns, which had left businesses struggling.

“We have been through a very tough time. Businesses have seen support (from government) and done a fantastic job to get through it and survive.”

He added: “Things seemed to be moving forward, but businesses are carrying a lot of debt, they were managing to pay it off, but they have been hit even harder.”

Similarly, Helen Heraty, owner of the Grays Court Hotel in York, said Prime Minister Truss needs to cut VAT to 5 per cent or less for the hospitality sector ‘immediately’ and to suspend business rates.

“Only these two things will help businesses survive,” she told the Press.

The hotelier, who has been shortlisted for a prestigious hotelier award, has just posted a report on the matter on her Linked-in profile.

“We are facing a horrible hike in energy prices. Businesses will go under.”

Such moves, she says, will put money back into the economy.

“This needs to happen now. Businesses are already closing now before they go bankrupt. We are all worried. We won’t have any customers. They won’t have any disposable income.”