Northampton curry house owner calls for Government to help hospitality industry survive ‘perfect storm’ of rising costs

The owner of an award-winning Northampton curry house has laid bare the true cost of rising energy bills and called on the Government to take action to combat soaring prices.

Naz Islam has run Saffron, in Castilian Street, for more than 20 years but in recent months has seen energy bills soar by £3,000 a month while the cost of ingredients has rocketed.

The businessman has issued an urgent plea for the Government to take drastic VAT and council tax cuts, as well as business rates relief, to help prop up a sector that has found itself at the coalface of the cost-of-living crisis.

He said: “Something has got to give. Unless costs come under control, hundreds of restaurants like ours will go under and thousands of jobs will be lost.

“We’ve already seen restaurants such as Star of India, Cardamon and Bilash close down and more will follow. The Government needs to act now before it’s too late.”

Naz revealed that a standard bag of onions has gone up from £9 to £20 and garlic has more than doubled from £8 to £18 while eggs have gone from £18 to £30. Curry house staples such as basmati rice have also increased from £25 to £39 while vegetable oil has doubled – going from £18 to £36.

He added: “Everything is going up and our ingredients are the most expensive they’ve ever been. All this is happening at a time when families are having to choose between heating and eating - it’s the perfect storm.

“We’ve tried to avoid passing these increases on to our customers for as long as possible but we have had to put prices up now as otherwise, it would be unsustainable. Staffing costs have risen and energy prices are through the roof – every day is a battle.”

Saffron has won multiple awards and has previously been named World Cuisine Restaurant of the Year at the Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards.