Axe the tax
At a time when money is tight landlords everywhere are struggling to make enough money to keep their pubs alive.
Almost all landlords agree that one of their biggest costs comes from the levels of beer duty they pay to the government.
Recent figures from the British Beer and Pub Association show that the drinkers in Britain pay the third highest levels of beer duty in Europe.
The BBPA is currently supporting the Axe the Tax campaign and Neil Williams said: “We’ve got ever increasing costs and as prices rise people look very carefully at what they’re purchasing and one of the biggest underlying costs is taxation.”
Matthew Chambers from the Piddle Inn thinks tax will continue to rise: “It is going to happen, there is not going to be a freeze. It’s in such a right state and it’s not going to change.”
“People say that it’s only gone up by 2p but that is 2p for Carlsberg, The Piddle Brewery, Tribute it’s not 2p for us. It’s more like 10p a pint for us.”
A survey of 100 pub goers by this site found that 69% of people felt that that high drink prices were either an important of very important factor putting them of drinking in pubs.
Information and Research Manager Iain Loe from the Campaign for Real Ale is worried that people will move to buying cheap drinks from supermarkets and stay at home.
Mr Lowe said: “Supermarkets are selling alcohol at below cost. They are using it as a loss leader, although that’s a fairly legitimate marketing technique it means people are more likely to buy it there rather than go to a pub.”
“We would like to see some measures to even up the playing field a bit.” He added
However Mike Bell co-founder of the Fair Pint campaign thinks the pub tie is still the primary cause for concern: “We are going through a recession like anyone else.”
