Pub chain with 300 locations warns price hikes are on their way very soon
A pub chain with more than 300 pubs and hotels has warned that price hikes will be coming into effect soon.
Shepherd Neame has said increases to employers' national insurance contributions (NICs) and the national living wage will cost it £2.6m
In its latest trading update, the pub chain said: "In common with other operators across the sector, we are not immune to the many cost headwinds in the second half following the government's recent budget.
"We have plans to mitigate the majority of the cost increases over the next 18 months, through proactive management action including price increases and cost efficiencies."
This announcement comes despite the company recording strong trade over Christmas, with sales up 7.4% for the five weeks to January 6, Sky News reports.
It said it saw many record-breaking days for individual pubs over the same period.
Shepherd Neame is far from the first pub chain to announce price hikes, with many citing increasing costs and the uptick in NICs as reasons.
Simon Dodd, chief executive of Young's, said earlier this month the chain plans to hike the price of a pint by around 20p, The Sun reports.
He said: 'We'll mitigate as much as we can of the NI contribution – we'll do that through efficiency, we'll do that through investing in our pubs.
"But there will be some price passed on to the consumer."
All Bar One owner Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) also shared that the price of its pints could rise by between 10p and 15p.
The group, which also owns Toby Carvery, said higher wage expenses were "by far the most significant increase" in its cost base following the Autumn Budget.
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Chief executive Phil Urban said M&B was facing around £23million a year in extra costs from just the rise in NICs, with the increase in the minimum wage also sending its wage bill surging.
In November, chief executive of pub chain Fuller's, Simon Emeny, also stated that the price of a pint of beer would likely go up by around 10p.
He criticised the decision to hike NICs as "counterproductive to growth" and "hurting young employment".
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