Wetherspoon boss warns prices could go up not down in wake of Budget
by Ruby Flanagan, Barbara Hodgson · ChronicleLivePub-goers may have been cheered by the recent Budget news that the price a pint of beer is set to be cheaper but the boss of one leading chain warns that the opposite could happen.
Wetherspoon's Tim Martin has said prices could actually rise in pubs, saying the company's tax bill is set to jump by two-thirds next year after last week's Budget announced a rise in the National Insurance (NI) tax for UK businesses. As The Mirror reports, Wetherspoon anticipates that tax and business costs will increase by around £60m over the next year - which includes its estimated 67% rise in NI contributions.
Tim Martin said: “Cost inflation, which had jumped to elevated levels in 2022, slowly abated in the following two years but has now jumped substantially again following the Budget. All hospitality businesses, we believe, plan to increase prices, as a result.
"Wetherspoon will, as always, make every attempt to stay as competitive as possible.” The company has more than 800 pubs across the UK and is said to be planning to open more country-wide.
Greg Johnson, analyst at City broker Shore Capital, predicts that the hike in business taxes could "add a further 5p to a pint". In last week's Budget last week, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the rate of NI paid by businesses will be rising from 13.8% to 15% from April 2025.
The earnings threshold for when employers start paying NI also will be lowered from £9,100 a year to £5,000. So, businesses paying a higher rate of NI also could find themselves paying it on more employee salaries.
Wetherspoon's latest trading results showed that improved sales at its pubs was slightly offset by the decrease in its number of sites. But Martin has said the company anticipates a "reasonable outcome for the current financial year", subject to its future sales performance.
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