Latest news with #JonathanNeame
Telegraph
19-03-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Net zero ‘grocery tax' will drive up pub prices, bosses warn
A net zero 'grocery tax' on food and drink manufacturers will push up prices in the nation's pubs and restaurants, bosses have warned. Industry chiefs from the hospitality sector have written to Steve Reed, the Environment Secretary, pleading with him for an exemption from the incoming Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) levy. EPR was designed to simplify how Britain recycles as it pushes towards net zero, and will see the burden of paying for recycling shifted from consumers through their council tax bills to the manufacturers themselves. However, businesses have warned it will encumber them with extra expenses at a time when the cost of doing business is already high. Jonathan Neame, the chairman of brewer and pub company Shepherd Neame, said: 'It is a tax cost that needs to be passed back to the customer and all the way through the system, so undoubtedly it will drive costs up. It's a very poorly implemented, ill-thought-through piece of legislation.' The letter to Mr Reed, signed by the chief executives of companies including Ask Pizza owner Azzurri Group, Burger King, Marston's and St Austell Brewery, said: 'Bills from suppliers are now being received, resulting in significant cost increases as a result of EPR. 'Hospitality businesses will be forced to pass at least some of the additional cost of this EPR fee onto their customers, as their suppliers have done to them.' They argued that bottles of beer, wine and spirits sold in their venues were being incorrectly classified as household waste through the scheme, despite never leaving their premises. They said: 'Hospitality businesses are being double-charged. They are being passed on an EPR charge, levied on a product incorrectly determined as household waste, and they're also paying for that same product to be disposed of commercially. 'The logic appears to be that a bottle of beer or wine could be served to the customer and end up in the household waste system. This is not the reality for the vast majority of hospitality businesses that collect any packaging served to their customers. This is common sense for any of our customers.'
The Independent
19-03-2025
- Business
- The Independent
UK's oldest brewer forced to hike beer prices in ‘challenging' market
Britain's oldest brewer and pub group Shepherd Neame has announced it will raise beer prices in response to rising taxes and wage costs set to take effect in April. The brewer, which runs 290 pubs primarily in the South East, revealed that the impact of the two government policies announced last year will cost it about £2.6 million a year - which will be passed on to customers through price increases. '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. Chancellor Rachel Reeves increased employer national insurance contributions (Nics) in the October Budget to help fund improvements to public services such as the NHS but some companies have criticised the policy for making it more expensive to employ people. The increase, and a rise in minimum wages, will come in next month, with hospitality groups who employ lots of people on lower wages set to be especially hard hit. Mr Neame, whose company employs about 1,600 people, described the current market as 'challenging'. 'The additional costs imposed on our sector are most unwelcome but the business model is flexible and we can adapt to the new circumstances,' he said. 'We have an excellent pub estate and our beer business is evolving to meet current consumer tastes and trends.' Shepherd Neame is more than 300 years old and is the oldest company of its type in the UK. It brews beers under a range of brands including Spitfire, Bishops Finger and Whitstable Bay. But total beer volumes fell 12.6 per cent in the second half of 2024 compared with the same period the previous year, the company said. Meanwhile, revenue fell slightly to £85 million, amid an 'increase in pub sales and a decrease in sales from premium bottled ales'. Nonetheless, underlying profit rose nearly 10 per cent to £4.2 million after a fall in inflation last year. Mr Neame added: '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 said 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'.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UK's oldest brewer to hike prices following Labour tax increase
Britain's oldest brewer has said it will hike its beer prices in response to rising taxes and wage costs taking effect in April. Shepherd Neame, which runs 290 pubs primarily in the South East, said the two policies announced by the Government last year will cost it about £2.6 million a year. '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. Chancellor Rachel Reeves increased employer national insurance contributions (Nics) in the October Budget while also raising the minimum wage. The Nics increase, which comes in next month, is designed to help fund improvements to public services such as the NHS. But some companies have criticised the policy for making it more expensive to employ people, with hospitality groups who employ lots of people on lower wages set to be especially hard hit. Mr Neame, whose company employs about 1,600 people, described the current market as 'challenging'. 'The additional costs imposed on our sector are most unwelcome but the business model is flexible and we can adapt to the new circumstances,' he said. 'We have an excellent pub estate and our beer business is evolving to meet current consumer tastes and trends.' Shepherd Neame is more than 300 years old and is the oldest company of its type in the UK. It brews beers under a range of brands including Spitfire, Bishops Finger and Whitstable Bay. But total beer volumes fell 12.6% in the second half of 2024 compared with the same period the previous year, the company said. Meanwhile, revenue fell slightly to £85 million, amid an 'increase in pub sales and a decrease in sales from premium bottled ales'. Nonetheless, underlying profit rose nearly 10% to £4.2 million after a fall in inflation last year. Mr Neame added: '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 said 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'.
The Independent
19-03-2025
- Business
- The Independent
UK's oldest brewer to hike prices following Labour tax increase
Britain's oldest brewer has said it will hike its beer prices in response to rising taxes and wage costs taking effect in April. Shepherd Neame, which runs 290 pubs primarily in the South East, said the two policies announced by the Government last year will cost it about £2.6 million a year. '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. Chancellor Rachel Reeves increased employer national insurance contributions (Nics) in the October Budget while also raising the minimum wage. The Nics increase, which comes in next month, is designed to help fund improvements to public services such as the NHS. But some companies have criticised the policy for making it more expensive to employ people, with hospitality groups who employ lots of people on lower wages set to be especially hard hit. Mr Neame, whose company employs about 1,600 people, described the current market as 'challenging'. 'The additional costs imposed on our sector are most unwelcome but the business model is flexible and we can adapt to the new circumstances,' he said. 'We have an excellent pub estate and our beer business is evolving to meet current consumer tastes and trends.' Shepherd Neame is more than 300 years old and is the oldest company of its type in the UK. It brews beers under a range of brands including Spitfire, Bishops Finger and Whitstable Bay. But total beer volumes fell 12.6% in the second half of 2024 compared with the same period the previous year, the company said. Meanwhile, revenue fell slightly to £85 million, amid an 'increase in pub sales and a decrease in sales from premium bottled ales'. Nonetheless, underlying profit rose nearly 10% to £4.2 million after a fall in inflation last year. Mr Neame added: '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 said 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'.
