Filton businesses fighting back amid cost of living crisis - but it's not easy, they say

By Jane Williams

Everyone everywhere is struggling financially at the moment, with energy bills rising, food prices going through the roof and wages, if they rise at all, certainly not doing so anywhere near the rate of inflation. We are undeniably in tough times.

Filton Voice caught up with three long-standing Filton businesses to find out how things have been for them as they navigate the tricky times both post-pandemic and in the middle of a massive financial crisis.

goto IT

Based on Gloucester Road North, goto iT has been run by Graham Simmonds since 1999 with the business providing a range of computer repairs and support services. Graham tells us how things have been for him:

“A small percentage of our customers are residential clients but the majority of our work is supporting companies with their IT needs.

"We haven’t seen businesses reducing their support with us.

In fact, we’ve taken on some new clients this year, so things are pretty good. I’m hopeful and positive. But we’re always wondering what will happen in 12 months’ time.

“While we haven’t seen a reduction in residential work, we have noticed people are keeping old pieces of equipment running for longer.

"And as one of the services we offer is repair of laptops, PCs and mobile phones, our shop is important to many residents and, of course, we are grateful for their custom.

“As for energy bills, while we have seen an increase in costs in this area, fortunately we have managed to absorb the costs without putting up our charges. Luckily, we are not dependent on a lot of high-energy items.

"We have always tried to be energy efficient, but we have continued to look at ways to reduce our energy bill where possible, such as low-energy lighting, switching off equipment when not required and keeping the building at an appropriate temperature.”

Gales Farm Meats

As the head of a butchery that has been run by the same family for three generations, and is based on Church View, Stuart Gale is doing all he can to keep his family business going… but he admits it has certainly not been easy:

“Obviously, Christmas was flat out but the trade slows down after Christmas. Although we did find this year, throughout January, that trade remained quite steady and we got a few new customers from the Christmas trade. It was actually better than the years we’ve had before.

“The public have been really good, and a lot of them understand our situation and have continued to support us. We stayed open throughout Covid and had a good trade, but when people went back to work, people no longer had time to shop in small shops and they went back to supermarkets for convenience. We still get a reasonable trade coming in but people are buying cheaper cuts in the butchery section, as they’re obviously paying huge bills at home. Everyone’s in the same boat.

“Electricity is my biggest worry. We were previously paying about £8,000 a year for electricity. And our suppliers estimated our annual costs rising to £24,476.58, which was a massive increase. We average 35% mark-up on goods, and that would have meant I had to sell about £23,000 worth of goods

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