How the cost of living crisis is affecting business in Chichester

Yoddi Papadamou, owner of the family-run La Fish in The Hornet, spoke to this newspaper in March to talk about the industry being ‘thrown into crisis’ at the outbreak of the Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Three months later and the costs keep rising for businesses across the country — and now Yoddi has spoken about how the cost of living crisis is affecting his business, his customers, and his competitors — and what he believes should be done next.

He said: “In terms of price rises, only last week we had significant rises: 20 to 30 per cent in chicken. Fish and chips at the beginning of the year were £7.90. Now they are £9.45.”

Yoddi said his own price rises have been steady but added: "We can’t keep putting them up.”

In previous months, he would employ five people during the week but he has had to cut one back to help keep his prices low.

"Everyone is kind of in the same boat. Our gas and heating is pretty astronomical. We are asking [the government] to reduce the VAT for us because we haven’t got much wiggle room.

“We are still doing okay but we have definitely seen a drop in terms of people not eating out as often. It is the same with delivery drivers, and they are seeing it everywhere.

"Customers are generally very good about it all but of course people are being more mindful about how they spend.

"We have had a couple of people who have said, ‘oh no, that’s too expensive', but there's not a lot we can do.”

Asked what he thinks would solve the problems, Yoddi said he would ask the government to drop VAT back to five per cent, cap the cost of electricity and gas, and cut the cost of fuel duty.

To top it off, the closure of Oving traffic lights has seen a build up of traffic around Chichester, with those driving into town The Hornet

"It’s not fun being a business owner in Chichester at the moment.”

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