Pint at London pub surges past £8 price amid sky-high inflation
The average price of a pint has surpassed £8 at one London pub, for the first time, as historic levels of inflation have forced landlords to up prices across the country.
The price tag of a drink has soared over 70 per cent since the financial crisis of 2008, according to data from insights firm CGA, reported by The Financial Times newspaper.
Across the UK, the average price of a pint of beer has hit £3.95, a staggering increase on 2008’s average cost of £2.30.
While the average pint at one unnamed London pub comes with an £8.06 cost, a pub in Lancashire boasts the cheapest average pint price of £1.79.
Earlier this year, the founder of Cobra Beer warned that price hikes were a“necessity” against a backdrop of spiralling costs faced by businesses in the beer industry.
Firms have been hit with rising costs across the supply chain, including manufacturing, energy and labour with consumers facing rising food prices and utility costs.
The food and drink industry faces a “vicious cycle” of spiralling costs, Cobra Beer’s Lord Bilimoria told BBC Radio 5 live’s Wake Up to Money programme.
At the time, hospitality bosses echoed warnings of price rises, with one industry survey finding that nearly half of operators will be forced to hike prices more than 10 per cent this year.
Some 15 per cent of hospitality businesses warned they were anticipating hikes of more than 20 per cent in the year ahead, a survey from trade body UKHospitality suggested.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has since exacerbated pressures on brewing operations, with the price of barley soaring amid the conflict.
In a trading update last month, All Bar One and O’Neills owner Mitchells & Butlers’ chief exec Phil Urban said warned of a “difficult” trading environment.
“Cost headwinds present a significant challenge to the industry, particularly those costs related to utilities, wages and food,” he added.
The most recent official figures have stated UK inflation to be at nine per cent, a 40-year high, as the country wrestles with a cost-of-living crisis.
Top economists have pegged inflationary headwinds to hit double figures by the end of the year, as food, energy and other household services and goods spiral in cost, CityA.M. reported earlier this summer.