Small businesses call for more support in 2025 Budget

The company was started by brothers Gary and John Hodgson in 2002.

Their shellfish, which is caught off the coast of Holderness, is consumed in the UK and exported to Europe and Asia.

Gary said: “We’re supporting all the fishermen who are based on the coast [of Holderness], but also all of our employees live locally, our suppliers are local and we’re trying to add value to the product as well as the economy.”

However, he said energy costs and all overheads have increased.

He added: “Last month, our gas, water and electricity charges were over £33,000.

“Of that, £22,500 was electricity charges, and of that £1,100 was a climate change levy. This is a tax against businesses to encourage us to use less energy.

“But we don’t need a levy, we’ve already got an electricity bill which is £22,500, so there’s our encouragement to reduce our energy consumption as much as we can. We’re not wasting energy, we can’t afford the energy.

“That’s just three overheads, on top of National Insurance increases, minimum wage increases, transport increases. All of our costs have increased, there’s not a single cost on the balance sheet that hasn’t increased.”

When asked about how he feels ahead of the Budget, which will be delivered by Reeves on Wednesday, Mr Hodgson said: “I’m a little bit concerned because, my personal feeling is, at the moment this government doesn’t have a grip on public finances.”