Brits are set to pay more for a round as the cost of a pint is due to rise by 21p, making the average pint now £5.01 amid a whole host of cost increases linked to October’s budget
The cost of a pint is set to soar above the £5 mark.
In a bitter blow for drinkers, pub bosses say the rise – around 21p a pint – is necessary if clubs and locals are to survive. Research shows breweries are expecting to raise the average price of a pint from £4.80 to £5.01. It comes as the Mirror’s campaign to save the Great British local was backed by leading businesses in the north east of England.
Stephen Patterson, Chief Executive of NE1, the Newcastle Business Improvement District Company representing 1400 businesses in the city centre, called for a ‘Minister for Hospitality’ to represent the sector at cabinet level. He said: “We are fully behind the Mirror campaign.We need a Government policy on this.”
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His plea came after latest figures revealed 300 bars closed in England and Wales last year, with 4,500 job losses. The news of a £5 pint comes amid a raft of cost increases linked to last October’s budget, which will come into force in April.
Firms face increases to the national minimum wage, a rise in national insurance rates and a decrease in the threshold at which firms start paying out national insurance.
Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), said: “The cumulative impact of these taxes and regulations is now plain to see.
“Pubs have punishingly slim profit margins and it is more urgent than ever that the Government looks at ways to reduce costs and keep pubs open.”
Beer prices have been rising steadily since January when pub bible the Morning Advertiser revealed the average cost of a pint varied wildly across Britain.The survey found the average cost in Scotland and the north west was £4.87 but just £4.56 in the north east.
Across Wales and the Midlands it was £4.74 while in the south east it was £5.21 and in the south east £5.16. London was, as expected, the most expensive area where drinkers have to stump up an average of £5.59 a pint.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his deputy Angela Rayner have pledged their support for our campaign. Ms Rayner said: “Community spaces like pubs have been decimated for over a decade, and local people have been ignored for far too long.”
Lib Dem Daisy Cooper, named 2024 Pub Parliamentarian of the Year, warned jobs tax and business rates bills are pushing some pubs “to call last orders for the final time.”
