Cost of living: Glassblowers counting cost of rising energy bills

Janey Pointing said it was a "huge shame" to have to close the business she manages

The rise in energy prices has impacted businesses everywhere and glassblowing is among the trades which have felt it sharply.

Glassblowers rely on their furnaces being kept lit which has led to a large increase in energy bills.

The issue has contributed to one glassblower being put out of business and some fear for the future of the trade in the face of prohibitive costs.

We spoke to West Country glassblowers to see how they are coping.

After 20 years of trade, the furnace has been switched off at Silver Tree Crystal in Moorlinch, Somerset.

The specialist glassblowers made the "heartbreaking" decision to close down after seeing their energy bills almost double.

Combined with the rise in import costs after Brexit and the impact of the pandemic, manager Janey Pointing said they had tried to keep going but were faced with no option but to close.

The furnace at Silver Tree Crystal in Moorlinch has been turned off for the last time

"We turned off the furnace in early September and it won't be going back on again. It is primarily the cost of energy which almost doubled.

"It's also down to the cost of importing raw materials as the prices went up and have kept going up. The cost of bringing it in is unbelievable.

"Christmas is a majorly busy period but our orders fell off a cliff. We have been trying but the situation hasn't got any better," added the 43-year-old.

Ms Pointing said she is worried about the future of the industry as a whole as businesses are forced to close down and with people being unable to learn their trade.

"I am terrified for the future of the glassblowing industry. It doesn't pay brilliantly but you don't do it for the money you do it for the passion. It's a lifelong career.

"We had to let our apprentice go which was very sad and I worry that there will be nowhere for apprentices to go. It's the sort of job where it takes years to master. It's a huge shame that our time has been cut short," she added.

Annette Dolan, who runs Bath Aqua Glass, has seen her energy bills rise sharply

Annette Dolan, who runs Bath Aqua Glass, told the BBC in August that she was enduring sleepless nights over her rising costs.

Ms Dolan has worked in the glassblowing business for 26 years and says she will do all she can to keep the firm running.

"Whether I'm going to save this business or not only the future will tell me, but I will do my damndest for all my staff and myself," she added.

One man to recently enter the industry is Chris Day, a heating and plumbing engineer who went back to university to pursue his dream of becoming a glassblower.

Mr Day has not given up on his engineering day job just yet as it helps him subsidise his glass work.

He said rising energy bills were an issue facing the entire glass industry and is concerned at university glassblowing courses being cut.

"What happens to the new people that want to come in and do glass? They can't do it or they haven't got the facilities or even the money now," he said.

Will Shakspeare's workshop is on the banks of the River Parrett in Langport, Somerset

Meanwhile, a glassblower from Langport, Somerset, says that being versatile and adapting to change has helped keep his business afloat.

Will Shakspeare said the rise in energy prices had led to some "eye-watering" gas bills but he is busier than ever, working six days a week to fulfil orders, including about 2,000 glass baubles ahead of Christmas.

"It is frightening at times but you control what you can," he said.

Mr Shakspeare works with one assistant, Johnny Allen, and says being a small team allows them to freedom to adapt their way of working quickly, as they did when the pandemic hit in 2020.

"It's not been an easy few years for anyone. People don't have a lot of money to spend.

"When Covid started we could have just gone into our shell and turned everything off.

"But we used the quieter time to try something new, making new things in our product range as we had the time to get things wrong and do it again.

"We started making things like lampshades and drinking glasses. We tried to make the most of it and did what we could," he said.

Mr Shakspeare has been working with glass for more than 40 years

The 61-year-old has an energy consultant and although the nature of the work means large gas bills, their advice has helped mitigate the huge increase in costs some businesses have seen as his current deal runs until 2024.

He said he was unsure what his bill might look like in two years' time but for now was concentrating on a busy few weeks as orders arrived for the Christmas period.

"My gas bill is eye-watering at times. Even if I turned it off I would still get a hefty bill, so I might as well leave it on.

"We got a bit lucky when our energy contracts runs out. It's not easy if your contract ran out at the wrong time."

Mr Shakspeare began working with glass aged 20 and set up his first workshop at 30.

He said he thought there were about 40 glassblowers like him working in the UK but rising energy costs would make him "think twice" about setting up in the UK now.

"I might think very carefully about it as these are difficult times and there are lots of calls on peoples' money, but it is a global trade.

"I'm not sure it will die out.

"Being a small business we have the freedom to change quite quickly and that desire to change has kept us afloat.

"We can be versatile, think about what is going to work and concentrate on our strengths," he added.