More pint price misery for landlords and customers

LANDLORDS are braced for more pain after another pub chain announced price rises of up to 15p a pint.

Punch Taverns, based in Burton’s Centrum 100 business park, will impose the price hikes on landlords from February 20, the Mail understands.

The 5,000-strong pub chain announced the increases — of up to 12 per cent — just days after Solihull-based Enterprise Inns, which owns several hostelries across Burton and South Derbyshire, revealed cost rises of nearly five per cent on all drinks.

Paul Needham, landlord of The Unicorn Inn, a Punch-owned pub in Newton Solney, said: “There will be moans and groans about this.

“But once again it will be licensees who get it in the neck for what breweries, pub companies and the Government have done.”

Punch landlords will have to pay an extra £24 for a 22-gallon barrel of Tennent’s lager, upping the cost by 12 per cent to £214.95.

A 36-gallon barrel of Carlsberg will increase in cost by 3.4 per cent, according to reports.

Mr Needham said landlords would have no choice but to pass the cost on to drinkers.

“With the austerity measures at the moment and the cold weather, we don’t need the price of beer to stop people going out to the pub in the evening,” he said.

“Pub running costs are higher and our utility bills are going through the roof so, as much as landlords would like to take the hit and not pass the cost on to customers, we can’t.”

Costs of Worthington will reportedly rise by 4.7 per cent, Stella Artois by 4.2 per cent, Heineken and Desperado’s by four per cent, and Peroni by 3.6 per cent.

The pub industry is still fearful of extra tax rises in the Budget, due to be announced by George Osborne in the House of Commons next month.

“The Budget could well be more pain,” Mr Needham said.

“Some MPs have said the Government should give the pub industry a break but I don’t see why they would, given the current austerity climate.”

A Punch spokesman declined to comment on the price rises, saying licensees had not yet been officially informed.