The Seaglass Cafe in Sunderland is currently closed after having its electricity cut-off.
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00:00Okay then James, you start by asking back in the spring, I think you mentioned it was
00:04April, you suddenly got a big jump in the electricity bills you were paying, so what
00:09happened there then?
00:10The first couple of months we were paying about £200 in electric and then we got a
00:16bill through for £600 and we just questioned it but we couldn't afford it but we were confused
00:23as to why it jumped three times.
00:26I understand the business did go into arrears with these payments but you'd set up a payment
00:31plan to cover the money you owe, is that right?
00:33Yes, we set up a payment plan to be paid over the ten weeks but the company that we were
00:42dealing with had also sent a bill which included the arrears and the monthly usage so that
00:51the total amount was coming out of a direct debit as well as through a payment plan.
00:55At that point obviously the business just couldn't afford to cover that amount.
01:01So I understand you contacted the energy company and explained this and asked for the payment
01:07plan to be reinstated and to be used to pay this money off?
01:11Yes, we contacted, well we first contacted the company back in July, questioned the bill
01:18which included the arrears plus the direct debit amount.
01:22We didn't have a response and then we spent throughout the whole of August trying to get
01:27this payment plan set back up.
01:30And ultimately on the 2nd of September you got cut off, yeah?
01:34On the 2nd of September they walked in and shut us down.
01:37And so what's been the impact on yourself, on the business, on loss of stock, on the
01:41people who used to come to the cafe, what's been the impact?
01:44For us it's been soul-destroying.
01:46The messages we've got from people is messages of well-wishing and hoping that they can come
01:54back, you know, it's a safe space for everyone, safe space for just allergies but also for
02:00people to eat with allergies, around people with no allergies, that they can all sit there
02:04in safety and eat.
02:07We get sent videos of children crying, those with autism or learning difficulties and they
02:17are struggling with the routine because they've spent the last 6 months coming here, enjoying
02:22us, getting the food that they want, if they're fussy eaters we'll look after them because
02:27you know, if the children are happy the parents are happy as well.
02:32But they get sent into this routine and it's been horrible seeing these videos but it's
02:41the passion that the customers for us have and that just keeps us going.
02:48We want to keep this open.
02:49I understand also you've had to throw a lot of money's worth of stock as well, is that
02:53right?
02:55Yes, so we've thrown out about £600 worth of stock but for us it's everything we make
03:03is made in-house, so all of our homemade pies, homemade quiches, everything we make is in-house
03:11and the cakes as well have all had to get chopped out and we spend hours making these.
03:18So what's your message to the energy company then?
03:21Just get us back open.
03:22Set up a payment plan and get us open because if we don't get it sorted we just have to
03:30shut down.
03:31But you're happy to pay what you owe, you just need to pay over a period of time, yeah?
03:34Yeah, we're happy to pay.
03:37We've not argued that we don't want to pay, all we've argued is setting up a payment plan
03:42and so far it's not been gone through because they can't guarantee that the bills will be
03:48separated from direct debits.
03:50So the arrears and the direct debit amount will still go through as one payment as well
03:55as a weekly payment.