Ali Carnegie, a business energy broker based in south-west England, spends most of his working day on the phone breaking bad news to clients.

In normal times, Carnegie wrangles with gas and electricity providers over single-digit percentage increases in the bills of the more than 250 small to medium-sized enterprises he has on his books. But now he has to recommend contracts that may tip some of his clients’ businesses over the edge as energy bills have started to rise sharply, driven primarily by Russia’s squeeze on gas supplies to Europe.

Last month, a hospitality business he works with was offered a new electricity contract priced at ￡605,000 a year, a seven-fold increase on its previous one. The owners are now working out whether their business can survive the rise.