Average price of a pint to rise above £5 for the first time thanks to April cost hikes

The average price of a pint is set to surge past £5 for the first time, adding more pain for drinkers.

Pub chiefs have warned that prices will have to increase in order to keep venues running when labour costs increase next month.

The British Beer and Pub Association said the average cost of a pint will rise from around £4.80 to £5.01.

The research, commissioned alongside Frontier Economics, showed pub firms are expecting to raise the average price of a pint by 21p.

The increase follows a series of cost rises announced in last October’s Budget, which will come into force next month.

The National Minimum Wage will increase by 77p an hour to £12.21.

Meanwhile, the rate at which employers pay National Insurance will increase from 13.8% to 15%.

The threshold at which firms will start to pay the tax is also set to fall from £9,100 to £5,000 a year.

Business rates discounts for firms in the sector will also be cut from 75% to 40% from April.

The total cost of the autumn Budget announcements in the beer and pub sector is estimated to be around £650million, the British Beer and Pub Association said.

Some brewers have already warned that they will need to push up prices to cope with the additional costs.

Among them is Shepherd Neame, which brews ales including Spitfire and Bishops Finger.

The company last week warned it will hike its beer prices in response to rising taxes.

Meanwhile, in February Heineken pushed up the price of its draught beer by an average of 2.97% for pubs.

The company is known for brewing beverages including Birra Moretti, Fosters and Tiger.

The company also increased the cost of its wholesale packaged products by an average of 2.5%.

Simon Dodd, chief executive of Young’s said the chain plans to increase its prices by between 2.5% and 3%.

Wetherspoons has also recently hiked the price of some of its drinks and meal deals by up to 30p after a warning from its boss Tim Martin.

Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, warned that the only way many pubs can stay open is to pass on the upcoming costs to consumers.

She said: “No one wants to see the cost of an average pint increase by a further 21p and break the £5 average pint barrier that will be required for pubs to maintain their punishingly slim profit margins.”;

She added that it is “more urgent than ever”; that the Government looks at ways to cap or reduce the cost of doing business so we can keep pubs open, preserve their community value and ensure the price of a pint remains affordable.

Breweries and pubs struggle

Pubs and breweries across the UK have struggled in recent years as the high cost of living has dented customers’ budgets.

The increased cost of brewing, beer prices and rising energy bills have also had an impact.

Figures published by the Altus Group revealed more than 400 pubs across England and Wales were demolished or converted for other uses in the year to December.

As a result, the number of pubs across the two countries fell below 39,000 for the first time.

More than 34 pubs a month called last orders for the final time over the year – the sharpest fall in pub numbers since 2021 during the coronavirus pandemic.

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