Beloved Oldham fish and chip shop to close after 25 years

Jack Spratt’s Superior English Fish & Chips, located on Hollins Road, is set to close.

A customer notice, signed by owner Peter and all staff members, reads: “It is with regret and sadness that I inform you that this business will close and cease trading on Thursday 6th April, 7pm.

“Energy prices and also my suppliers’ rising costs mean we cannot sustain and absorb these costs anymore.

“We will close after 25 years within this community and we would like to thank you all, our loyal customers and friends, for many happy times.”

On Facebook, the restaurant’s fans were distraught.

Peter Longley said: “Bloody disgrace, should never happen.”

Victoria Harrison said: “Used to drive down several lunch times a week from an industrial estate in Derker to get lunch.

“A disgrace that the normal working man is now in this position due to extortionate costs for essentials and greed of the rich.”

Jack Spratt's (Image: Google)

Rising costs

Fish and chip shops across the borough have had to raise prices since last year, as suppliers have increased costs.

Six months ago, in September, one co-owner of Levers Fish and Chips, located in Tommyfield Market, said: “We used to get the fish for £115 for 40lbs cases, now it’s £190.

“Oil, we used to get for £23 for 20 litres, now it’s £48.

“It’s got to come down sometime. People take advantage of a crisis, I don’t know.”

Government support 'not enough'

The news that Jack Spratt’s will be closing comes after the Chancellor did not mention business energy bills in his speech announcing the budget to the House of Commons.

Despite extending current support levels for households, the Chancellor did not promise anything new for businesses.

Unlike households, which have seen the Energy Price Guarantee extended until July, businesses are not subject to the same energy bill price cap.

The extension to the household price guarantee comes after a Treasury U-turn. Thousands of households could have seen a shock rise in their energy bills in the coming weeks had the support not been extended.

In a document accompanying the budget announcement, the Treasury said there will be new support to give businesses a discount on their bills.

However, businesses say it will not be nearly enough. Nearly half of businesses surveyed by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said they would struggle to pay their energy bills from the start of April.

Companies are set to see their energy bills soar from the start of April as the current more generous support package is slashed.

The current ‘Energy Bill Relief Scheme’ for businesses is set to end on March 31. The scheme provides a discount based on the difference between the wholesale price of energy and the ‘government supported price’.

Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said: “As April 1 rapidly approaches, businesses are also nervously awaiting what’s next for their energy costs and a lack of support in today’s announcement will have a direct impact on their ability to keep their lights on and doors open.”

In his budget speech, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said: "I will extend the Climate Change Agreement scheme for two years to allow eligible businesses £600 million of tax relief on energy efficiency measures.

"But the long-term solution is not subsidy but security.

"That means investing in domestic sources of energy that fall outside Putin or any autocrat’s control."