Pub and brewing company owners across the UK are sending a letter to the government urging it to act quickly to avoid serious damage to the sector.
Some of the UK’s biggest pub and brewing companies – Greene King, JW Lees, Carlsberg Marston’s, Admiral Taverns, Drake & Morgan and St Austell Brewery – have signed an open letter demanding the government take immediate action to address the deepening energy crisis.
Britain’s energy regulator announced this month it will raise its main cap on consumer energy bills to an average of £3,549 ($4,155) a year starting this October, affecting 24 million households. Consumers and businesses are facing soaring energy costs, which many say threaten to make their operations unviable.
William Lees Jones, managing director of JW Lees said “We have publicans who are experiencing 300% + increases in energy costs and some energy companies are refusing to even quote for supply. In some instances, tenants are giving us notice since their businesses do not stack up with energy at these costs.”
The number of pubs in England and Wales dropped below 40,000 for the first time during the first half of 2022 due to impact of the Covid pandemic and rising business costs.
