Sacha Lord forecasts up to 20p increase in cost of a pint
Night-Time Economy Adviser for Greater Manchester, Sacha Lord, has forecasted a 16 to 20p rise in the cost of an average pint over the next 3 months as inflation, increased VAT pressures, and surging gas prices hit hospitality operators.
This comes as the reduced rate of VAT at 12.5% for hospitality ends today, increasing to 20%.
Lord said: "Our sector looks like it's back to normal with the naked eye, but behind the scenes, operators are barely breaking even.
Additional rise
“Many operators will be forced to increase customer prices by around 4 to 5% simply to stay afloat and this additional rise will be noticeable to punters.”
Earlier this month, national pub chain JD Wetherspoon announced it had already increased its prices by 10p across its venues (20p in London) to counter rising costs.
Young’s chief executive Patrick Dardis also warned of price rises of over 70p a pint by Christmas 2022 due to the significant increase in grain prices and energy bills, with some produce and ingredient costs already having risen 3-fold in the past 6 months as supply chain, logistics costs and order backlogs take hold.
Precarious situation
Almost two fifths of operators have already been forced to cut trading hours to combat cost increases across the board, according to a poll conducted by trade organisations UKHospitality, the British Institute of Innkeeping (BII), the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) and Hospitality Ulster this March.
Lord added: "Landlords are trying their best in what is a financially precarious situation for many and putting prices up isn't something they will want to do.
“I believe most will try to keep price increases lower than the current 6.2% inflation rate to keep customers coming in and will look to cut costs elsewhere such in their supply chains or even by reducing trading hours and cutting staff hours."
