The price of a pint has crossed the £10 mark in London for the first time, as the cost of beer continues to rise. Several high-end bars are now charging £10 or more for draught or bottled beer. Stanley's rooftop bar in Mayfair, attached to the Chesterfield hotel, sells a pint of Moretti or Heineken for £11, a half pint for £8, and a pint of Guinness for £10.
Bottled beer is even more expensive, with the Connaught Grill in Mayfair charging £12.50 for a 330ml bottle of Noam lager or Curious IPA. This follows a 5.2 per cent surge in draught prices announced by Guinness maker Diageo in April, citing rising operational costs. Pub owners have told the Morning Advertiser that Diageo seemed “hell-bent on having the first £10 a pint beer.”
London is one of the most expensive places in the UK for a pint, with an average price of £6.50, according to the Morning Advertiser, just behind Oxford at £6.75. As the £7 pint becomes common in the capital, industry experts are urging the government to do more to keep prices affordable.
Ash Corbett-Collins, chair of the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra), said: “It’s not surprising pint prices are rising across London and the UK, but our pubs and breweries should not be blamed. Extreme financial pressures from the Government are forcing publicans to either raise their prices or consider closing for good.” He called for fairer business rates, lower VAT on food and drink for hospitality, and reduced alcohol duties.
The average pint price in the UK is £4.52, according to the British Beer and Pub Association, with lager costing £4.82. Meanwhile, the number of pubs continues to decline. Pub landlords welcomed the government’s January U-turn on business-rate relief for hospitality, after Chancellor Rachel Reeves had planned to scale back the discount from 75 per cent to 40 per cent.
