Cost of pint could soar to £20 as pubs battle to stay open amid rising energy bills

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

The cost of a pint would have to rise to “ridiculous” amounts to match the increase in running costs that landlords now face, according to a leading campaigner.

Speaking to the Daily Star, Tom Stainer, the chief executive of the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) group, said thousands of pubs could be forced to close because it is not “viable” for landlords to raise the cost of a pint to £15 or 20 to cover their soaring energy bills.

He said some pubs were seeing bills go up by 500% to 600%. A Camra survey this summer also found that 50% of the British public think that the cost of a pint is already unaffordable, meaning customers were likely to be put off by a £15 or £20 pint.

Stainer told the paper: “What you can say with surety is you can’t possibly pass on these energy increases and you can’t increase the pint by 500%.