Small business owners worry whether they will make it through the winter

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…