Major brewer that runs hundreds of pubs to hike beer prices, as boss blames Rachel Reeves
19 March 2025, 14:43
Pint prices will be going up in some pubs as Britain's oldest brewer prepares to hike the cost of beer.
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Shepherd Neame,more than 300 years old and produces brands including Spitfire and Bishops Finger.
It runs 290 venues, mainly in the south east of England, and has argued it has to hike prices to offset rising tax and wage bills following the October Budget.
“We plan to mitigate the majority of these costs over the next 18 months through price increases and cost efficiencies,” chief executive Jonathan Neame said on Wednesday.
It comes after Chancellor Rachel Reeves raised National Insurance contributions for employers and increased the minimum wage.
Mr Neame said: “The additional costs imposed on our sector are most unwelcome but the business model is flexible and we can adapt to the new circumstances.
"We have an excellent pub estate and our beer business is evolving to meet current consumer tastes and trends.
Total beer volumes dropped 12.6% in the second half of 2024 compared with the same period the previous year, the company said.
Revenue fell slightly to £85 million amid an “increase in pub sales and a decrease in sales from premium bottled ales”.
Meanwhile, underlying profit rose nearly 10% to £4.2 million after a fall in inflation last year.
Mr Neame, whose company employs about 1,600 people, described the current market as "challenging".
He said: "We enjoyed buoyant summer trade in July and August, with consumer and business confidence high. "During the autumn, confidence evaporated in the run-up to the Budget.
"Since then, activity picked up again and we enjoyed record Christmas trading, with good growth on 2023, with many individual pub records exceeded."
He added that the increase in labour costs has "undermined business and consumer confidence in the short term", but that he remains "hopeful that the economy will return to a growth trajectory, with net disposable income growing and interest rates falling".
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"We have an excellent pub estate and our beer business is evolving to meet current consumer tastes and trends.
Total beer volumes dropped 12.6% in the second half of 2024 compared with the same period the previous year, the company said.
Revenue fell slightly to £85 million amid an “increase in pub sales and a decrease in sales from premium bottled ales”.
Meanwhile, underlying profit rose nearly 10% to £4.2 million after a fall in inflation last year.
Mr Neame, whose company employs about 1,600 people, described the current market as "challenging".
He said: "We enjoyed buoyant summer trade in July and August, with consumer and business confidence high. "During the autumn, confidence evaporated in the run-up to the Budget.
"Since then, activity picked up again and we enjoyed record Christmas trading, with good growth on 2023, with many individual pub records exceeded."
He added that the increase in labour costs has "undermined business and consumer confidence in the short term", but that he remains "hopeful that the economy will return to a growth trajectory, with net disposable income growing and interest rates falling".
