Britain’s oldest brewer with 300 pubs and hotels warns of price rises following Government tax raid
Britain’s oldest brewer with 300 pubs and hotels warns of price rises following Government tax raid
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A MAJOR brewer which runs 300 pubs and hotels has warned of price rises following the Government's Autumn Budget. Shepherd Neame has become the latest chain saying it will have to bump up prices for customers following the tax raid. From April, employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) are rising from 13.8% to 15% while the threshold at which businesses have to pay them is falling from £9,100 to £5,000.
![[Beer tap handles with various ale labels.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2016-kentish-ale-one-u-862587017.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
The national minimum and national living wages are also rising later this year, piling further pressure on bosses. The brewer, which claims to be the oldest in the UK and runs 300 pubs and hotels in London and South East England, said the combined NIC and national minimum wage hikes would cost it £2.6million.
It said: "In common with other operators across the sector, we are not immune to the many cost headwinds in the second half following the Government’s recent Budget, notably the increase in national living wage and national insurance from April. "We have plans to mitigate the majority of the cost increases over the next 18 months, through proactive management action including price increases and cost efficiencies.".
The announcement from Shepherd Neame comes despite it recording strong trade over the festive period, with sales up 7.4% for the five weeks to January 6 compared to the same period the year before. It said sales were strongest inside the M25, up 13.3% like-for-like, while like-for-like retail sales for the 26 weeks to December 28 were up 4.4%.
