THE Deputy Mayor of Wellington, Cllr Nancy Powell-Brace, told this week how her tearoom was battling the country’s economic climate as claims were made that dozens of local hospitality businesses were facing closure.

It will be nine years in September since Cllr Powell-Brace opened Odette’s Tearoom, in High Street, but the past 12 months have seen her issue dire warnings about the difficulty in keeping going.

Cllr Powell-Brace said many businesses did not want to speak up for fear that customers would perceive they were closing down.

She said: “But I think it is important we speak up so people know the position of businesses in the town.

“We need the support of local people now more than ever, they need to buy locally and shop locally more than ever to help out.”

Cllr Powell-Brace was speaking as local Liberal Democrats claimed 55 public houses, restaurants, and cafes across Taunton Deane and West Somerset were at risk of closure because of the Government’s recent Budget.

The political party, of which Cllr Powell-Brace is a member, criticised an 85 per cent reduction in business energy support from April, just as inflation in the UK rose to 10.4 per cent using the Consumer Prices Index.

It has called for the Government to extend business energy support for at least another six months.

Cllr Powell-Brace said she could not take a wage from Odette’s, which has three part-time staff and two Saturday helpers in addition to herself.

She said: “I have to save that money to pay the staff. That is the same for many others in the town.

“But we are still open, we are still here, is the best I can say.

“We are not going out of business, we are just finding it very touch.”

Cllr Powell-Brace said the issue which she and others faced was that prices ‘are not going down, they are going up’.

She said: “Like many other businesses, we have had to increase our prices slightly because we have to cover our costs.

“We have kept it to the absolute minimum and it has not yet impacted on us.

“We are coming up to the better time of the year which makes a huge difference. Winter is always the worst and the company has survived January, February, and March, which are the toughest months of the year.

“My current analysis of the situation is that we have weathered that particular storm, but, just like the British weather, who knows when the next one is around the corner?

“It is fair to say we are getting the same number of people through the door and we are making pretty much the same money as we did this time last year, but it is going half as far, that is the big issue.

“The money we are taking does not go anywhere near as far as it did, so you have to take more.”Cllr Powell-Brace said basic items such as butter, milk, and bread has all more than doubled in price in the past 12 months.

“It is never knowing if it is sustainable or not,” she said. “I think we will reach the summer and then we will have to plan much more carefully for next winter if we are still here.

“The last week of every month is hell on earth because I am working out wether I can pay the staff, weather I can pay the bills.

“There has not been a single month where I can say ‘that went well’ for probably 12 months, and that is the same for many others in the town.”