The Government could step in to keep factories open amid soaring gas prices, Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary, has said.

       Mr Kwarteng insisted the Government was “looking to find a solution” to the problems faced by “energy-intensive companies” such as steelmakers that have suffered during the fuel crisis, with firms pleading for help to prevent further collapses as wholesale gas prices spiral.

       “We already have existing support, and we’re looking to see whether that's sufficient to get us through this situation,” he told The Andrew Marr Show.

       Mr Kwarteng denied that he had asked the Treasury “for billions”, adding that he was “working very closely” with Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, and they were looking “to see what we can do in terms of protecting industry”.

       He said: “I think it’s a challenging situation. But as I’ve always said, the energy supply is not an issue. We’ve got a security of supply.

       “We’ve got flowing sources of gas and electricity, we’ve got a diversity in terms of electricity generation mix, we've got a bit of nuclear, we've got renewables. We've got gas, and through that mix I think we’ve got a great deal of resilience.”

       Mr Kwarteng said he was certain the lights would stay on in the UK this winter as businesses warned they may have to reduce working hours to sustain themselves and industry body Energy UK said more suppliers would collapse.

       The Business Secretary also guaranteed that he would keep the energy price cap for consumers in place throughout the winter but said he would not “bail out failing energy suppliers”.

       He said he could not yet determine whether there a price cap will be introduced for businesses but added that there have been discussions over “what the nature of that support might be”.

       Mr Kwarteng told Sky’s Trevor Phillips on Sunday: “What I’m very clear about is we need to help them get through this situation – it’s a difficult situation, gas prices, electricity prices are at very high levels right across the world and of course I'm speaking to government colleagues, particularly in the Treasury, to try and see a way through this.”

       Richard Leese, the chairman of the Energy Intensive Users Group, warned that gas prices were at an “unprecedented level” and the “businesses that manufacture the goods that we need are trying to operate under these unprecedented conditions”.

       Emma Pinchbeck, the chief executive of Energy UK, also warned that “exposed” businesses such as energy-intensive users and retailers would be worst hit.

       She said: “We are expecting more retailers to go out of business this winter. The issue is how many are failing at once and whether or not our mechanisms, which are in place to look after customers when that happens, are up for that many failures in one go.”

       Mr Kwarteng also suggested people could wrap up warmer this winter rather than use more energy. Asked whether he was advising people to wear another woolly jumper and pair of socks, he told Sky: “It’s up to people – it’s amazing how different people’s cold thresholds can be.

       “Some people feel comfortable wrapped up in lots of different clothes, others wear relatively little – I think people should be sensible. I think people should do what they feel comfortable with.”