Pubs steer clear of discounting drinks

Pubs are backing away from discounting drinks this month, citing rising overheads and the VAT increase.

A snapshot survey from different regions by CGA Strategy found that licensees also felt that the Government's push to discourage binge-drinking had sunk in.

The majority of deals are linked with food, or offer small discounts on specific products such as spirits.

In East Anglia, most of the offers are meal-based from branded food-led pubs.

At the time of questioning, a lot of premises were in the process of putting up their prices, on average 10p per drink, and had yet to consider promotions.

The south-west has similar views, with many waiting to see how the VAT increase will be passed on by their pub companies.

CGA said respondents felt that promotions simply weren't worth doing this year. The south-east has seen fewer promotions too. One single-site operator told CGA that it offered buy-one-get-one-half-price on all bottled beers last year.

But this year, it said, the deal was available only on a single product.

In the West Midlands, the only significant deals are on doubling house spirits for an extra £1.

Those polled in northern England only had offers on house doubles, and suggested a dependence on wholesaler deals to drive their promotions.

In Scotland, licensees felt that the VAT increase and other rising costs were forcing them to put up prices to survive.

Many customers have also threatened to drink at home via supermarket deals.

It follows news that JD Wetherspoon has dropped its 99p pint deal as part of its January sale for 2011.