Last orders at Spoons? Price of beer rockets by 25p to £7.10 at some Wetherspoon pubs – is your pre-flight pint going up?
- Corona, San Miguel and Stella Artois are also nearing the £7 mark
Holiday goers who are after an airport pint will have to pay a whopping £7.10 at Wetherspoon’s branches, amid soaring inflation.
A pre-holiday pint has become a tradition for many Brits but those travelling from Gatwick, Heathrow, Stanstead and Edinburgh airports could be in for a shock when they pay the bill.
Belgian beer Leffe has seen a price hike of 3.5 per cent at certain Wetherspoon pubs, with the cost rising from £6.85 to £7.10, The Sun reported.
Many pints sold at the Wetherspoon chain are nearing £7, including Corona, San Miguel and Stella Artois.
This follows a giant increase in the price of the pub’s food meal deals by up to 75p and its drinks by 25p.
Belgian beer Leffe has seen a price hike of 3.5 per cent at certain Wetherspoons pubs
Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the price hikes will leave a ‘bad taste’ in the mouths of sun-seekers.
READ MORE: Wetherspoons closes more pubs with dozens of boozers across Britain earmarked for closure..is YOUR local calling last orders?
He added: ‘Brits hoping to start their holidays with a relaxing pint in the airport will need deeper pockets this summer.’
The chain has been trying to lure customers back in recent months, as sales remain below pre-pandemic levels.
Chairman Tim Martin recently claimed supermarkets had taken up to half the industry’s trade as more people choose to drink at home to cut back on costs.
He added that pubs including Wetherspoon were vulnerable to competition from shops as supermarkets do not pay VAT on food sales while bars and restaurants pay 20 per cent.
Mr Martin said in a trading update in January: ‘We estimate that supermarkets have taken about half of the pub industry’s beer volumes since Wetherspoon started trading in 1979, a process that has likely accelerated following the pandemic.’
The business, known for low-cost food and drink across its 843 UK pubs, has said prices could rise again if sales don’t improve.
Wetherspoon at Gatwick Airport (pictured) where holiday goers can expect to pay £7.10 for a pint of beer
On March 24 it reported a pre-tax profit of £4.6million for the 26 weeks to January 29, but this was 91 per cent down from £50.3million pre-pandemic.
READ MORE: Pub fans praise punter as he is spotted reading the Wetherspoon menu ‘for 15 minutes’ while on the train
Wetherspoon has closed 29 pubs this year with 22 more at risk of being axed amid cost pressures.
The hospitality company said ‘almost all’ of the pubs facing closure were located nearby another.
A spokesperson for the chain said prices are higher than average at airports.
The cheapest pint of Carling in the country is reported to be on offer at The Wilfred Owen in Shropshire at just £1.99.
The pub chain has opened three new venues this year and the chain is setting their sights ahead to the next financial year.
In a pre-close trading update published in July, Tim Martin, said the following:
‘The company expects profits in the current financial year to be in line with market expectations
‘As a result of a continued improvement in sales and a slightly reduced expectation for cost increases, for example energy costs, the company anticipates an improved outcome for the next financial year.’
Source: Read Full Article