Wetherspoon slashes prices after hospitality VAT cut
Pub chain JD Wetherspoon will slash the price of a range of meals and drinks following the government’s decision to cut VAT for the hospitality industry.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced last week that VAT will be reduced from 20 per cent to five per cent until next year.
Wetherspoon said today that it will “fully pass on the tax benefit to its customers”, with the cheapest pint costing £1.29.
Following the reduction, which will begin on Wednesday, a pint of Ruddles Bitter will cost £1.29, 50p less than previously, and Doom Bar will cost £1.79, a drop of 31p.
Abbot Ale will see a 40p reduction and guest beers will be £1.99, a reduction of 26p, across 764 Wetherspoon pubs.
Discounts will also be extended to the company’s food offering, including breakfasts, pizzas and burgers.
Customers at the 103 Wetherspoon pubs in major town and city centres, airports and stations will have to pay an extra £1 for real ale.
Wetherspoon founder and chairman Tim Martin said: “Wetherspoon will invest all the proceeds of the VAT reduction in lower prices, spread across both bar and food products, with the biggest reductions on real ale.
“Wetherspoon has campaigned for tax equality between pubs, restaurants and supermarkets for many years.
“Supermarkets pay no VAT on food sales and pubs pay 20 per cent.
“Supermarkets pay about two pence per pint of business rates and pubs pay about 20 pence.
“These tax differences have helped supermarkets to subsidise their selling prices of beer, wine and spirits, enabling them to capture about half of pubs’ beer sales, for example, in the past forty years.”