The cost of a pint would have to rise to “ridiculous” amounts to match the increase in running costs that landlords now face, according to a leading campaigner. Speaking to the Daily Star, Tom Stainer, the chief executive of the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) group, said thousands of pubs could be forced to close because it is not “viable” for landlords to raise the cost of a pint to £15 or 20 to cover their soaring energy bills.
He said some pubs were seeing bills go up by 500% to 600%. A Camra survey this summer also found that 50% of the British public think that the cost of a pint is already unaffordable, meaning customers were likely to be put off by a £15 or £20 pint.
Stainer told the paper: “What you can say with surety is you can’t possibly pass on these energy increases and you can’t increase the pint by 500%. It just isn’t viable for pubs to pass (price hikes this big) on to consumers because people wouldn’t come to drink at pubs anyway.
READ MORE: Manchester Brewdog bars safe as firm closes six venues and slams ‘clueless zombie government’
“So thousands (of pubs) could be affected by this. And they can close – and the difference with (pubs compared to) other sorts of businesses is once a pub closes it very rarely comes back.”
Back in May, Sacha Lord, Manchester’s Night-time Economy Advisor, warned that pint prices could reach £4.25 by the summer. He said the average pint price could shoot up by 16 and 20p, while operators suggested that this could surge to as much as 70p by Christmas.
These estimations were based on increased costs, from grain to make beer, to energy to light and heat venues and fuel to power its deliveries. However, his comments were made when the rate of inflation stood at 6.2%, before it climbed to double digits, reaching 10.1% in July.
In light of the soaring costs, Stainer has called on the government to take action and support the hospitality industry by reviewing energy costs, business rates and beer tax. His warning also follows BrewDog’s announcement it will close six pubs over its rocketing energy bills.
While the Manchester branch is currently safe from closure, the brewery’s owner slammed the government for failing to help businesses facing the energy and cost of living crisis. Co-founder James Watt took to his LinkedIn page to brand the current government as ‘zombies’.
He said: “Last night we confirmed we were to close six bars around the UK and it is heart-breaking to lose these locations,” he said. “I warned a few weeks ago, costs are rising to such a degree, with no prospect of any help from a clueless government, that these very difficult decisions have to be made."
Bosses of six of the UK’s biggest pub and brewing companies, including Greene King, Carlsberg Marston’s and Drake & Morgan, also signed an open letter to the Government, urging it to act to avoid “real and serious irreversible” damage to the sector.
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