Price freeze for Charles Wells pubs

Bedford based brewer and operator Charles Wells has announced it will not increase its beer prices to its tenants until at least 1 April, despite the 2.5% increase in VAT.

The company has also agreed to hold any duty increase on beer, wine and spirits included in the Chancellor's budget until the same date for its 257 tenants.

In a further positive move, Charles Wells also said it would monitor the situation in regard to other supplier increases throughout February and March with the intention of absorbing a large portion of the increases until 1 June.

"We recognise that 2010 could bring a triple attack on licensee margins," said sales and marketing director Peter Wells.

"With changes to VAT and duty adding as much 8p to the price of a pint of beer before supplier increases are factored in.

"By taking decisive action now, we expect to ease the impact for our customers during a traditionally quiet trading period and ensure that these external factors don't all hit home at once.

"This is proving to be even more important than we expected, as their trading potential is also being influenced by the extraordinary weather conditions the country is facing."

He added: "Whilst there's so much uncertainty in the industry, we wanted to confirm our position regarding supplier price increases so that licensees know where they stand as early as possible.

"This gives them a chance to plan ahead and discuss promotional opportunities with their Retail Development Managers, making sure that they're ahead of the local competition in delivering a great pub experience."