Pints rise 10p after duty hikes

23% of pubs still hadn't raised prices by 1 May

Managed operators have delayed rises

Most pubs put 10p on a pint after this year's Budget.

But around one in four held off from adding an increase seven weeks after March's disastrous Budget that saw 4p added to a pint.

Those are the findings of a survey over 750 managed and leased pubs across the country by CGA Strategy, revealed to the MA.

Three out of four pubs put 10p on a pint of standard lager. Four out of five put 10p on a premium lager pint.

Few pubs chose to add different increases. For Stella Artois, 15 sites added 20p to a pint and nine put on 15p.

"When it comes to draught [lager], 10p really is the magic number," said CGA Strategy research manager Phil Tate.

"Not many pubs are able to absorb the price rises. But because [the Budget duty rises] were so widely reported many consumers were aware of them, so it gave more leeway to pass the increases onto customers."

Almost 23% of pubs had yet to add increases when the survey was taken on 1 May. Tate said it was primarily larger managed operators that had held off.

"All outlets said they would integrate some increases, but wanted to see what head offices were going to tell them. Many groups are very savvy when it comes to price increases. They are very concerned about how much they can put on without frightening the consumer.

"Some people are unsure how they should be playing it. They are waiting to see what everyone else in the market is doing first."

This pattern is more pronounced when it comes to vodka — 42% of pubs made no change to the price. Of those that did increase prices, 54% added 10p and 40% slapped on 5p per serving.

Meanwhile, there was a

far wider variety of price increases for wine. Just over one quarter — 27% — of pubs put 40p on a 750ml bottle of house wine. Twenty one per cent added 10p, 13% put on 30p and 6% added £1.

Tate said the variety reflects the differing price points for wine at UK pubs.