Pub bosses rage over ‘tsunami of prices’ as affect on Brit boozers will likely be ‘extreme’

Pub bosses are raging after last week’s budget saw costs soar. In a historic budget for the Labour Party, Chancellor Rachel Reeves increased taxes by £40m, and borrowing by around half of that figure. The biggest hit to pubs was the National Insurance contributions rise on the employers side of the pay packet.

It is said to hit pub giants Greene King by a whopping £20m, while Fullers have said they will have to halve its annual UK investment from £60m to £30m. According to Sky News, the feelings of several large retail and hospitality companies, and trade associations, raged at Labour’s business secretary Jonathan Reynolds that they were fuming about it.

According to Sky News, the feelings of several large retail and hospitality companies, and trade associations, raged at Labour’s business secretary Jonathan Reynolds that they were fuming about it.

Adding to the pain for Labour, the British Beer and Pub Association has called it a “tsunami of higher costs,” while the Confederation of British Industry called its impact on the UK pub scene “severe”

Many of those on the call claimed to Sky News that Mr Reynolds admitted that the “a once-in-a-generation budget” was “asking a lot” of businesses, and Rami Baitieh – the chief executive of Morrison’s – added to the anger by stating that it added to “an avalanche of costs” for British businesses next year.

It was also announced that pints would go down by a whopping 1p – a move largely ridiculed by virtually everyone.

Within hours of the budget taking place last week, publican Anthony Pender who owns the Yummy pubs brand in London told BBC News: “We will not be reducing pints in our bar by 1p – it’s ridiculous. We’re looking at a 30 to 40p increase on a pint because of employment costs.”

“We all expected a rough ride, we know that difficult decisions had to be made. But it’s catastrophic, and it’s catastrophic for small businesses.”

There have been calls for Labour to roll back on many of the things announced in the budget, but so far the calls appear to have fallen on deaf ears.

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