The cost of living crisis that has engulfed the UK in recent years shows no signs of abating with Brits now routinely shelling out absurd amounts of money for necessities we previously took for granted.
Surges in the price of food and energy have been well documented, but a more insidious price inflation across the UK’s hospitality sector is now running the risk of doing the unthinkable: pricing Brits out of the pub.
Last week, MailOnline revealed that a pub in Clapham, perhaps emboldened by the economic climate, was flogging pints of Diet Coke for £4.60, a figure just fractionally shy of the average cost of a pint of lager, which is £4.80.
Elsewhere in the capital, the historic riverside boozer the Trafalgar Arms in Greenwich charging £8.80 for a pint whilst Camden’s The Dublin Castle pub was caught selling a pint of Cruzcampo lager for £7.80.
But despite justified outrage from punters, many in the hospitality industry have not ruled out further hikes.
Scroll through our interactive graphic below to see how far £50 will take you in pubs across the country.
Industry chiefs say pubs fearful for their own futures are under mounting pressures such as soaring rising energy bills, competition from supermarkets and still playing catch-up with rents after Covid-19 lockdown-inflicted closures.
Office for National Statistics figures showed the nationwide average for a pint of lager leapt by 10.8 per cent in the 12 months to last December – from £4.24 to £4.70 and the British Beer and Pub Association says it is now £4.80 – and £5.69 across London.
Draught bitter was up by 9.1 per cent, hitting £3.93 rather than the previous £3.60 – while experts have warned pints in London could even rise to £14 next year.
To gauge how expensive the average trip to a UK pub has become in 2024, MailOnline visited a collection of venues across the country to see how far £50 would go.
In each of the pubs, we measured the price of five common orders including a pint of lager, pint of soft drink and a burger and chips.
The most expensive area of the country was London where the average cost of a pint was £7.20.
At these rates, £50 in the capital would only get you seven pints of lager or four cocktails which were sold for an average price of £11.
LEAMINGTON SPA: The price of a burger and chips at the White Horse pub will set you back £14.50
COBHAM: It’s £20.45 from this offering in the Cricketers in Cobham
CARDIFF: Burgers in Cardiff’s Brewhouse chain go for £11.95 with chips
BRIGHTON: You won’t any change from £14 pound on this combination
LONDON: A burger and chips at the Blackbear in Shoreditch’s Boxpark goes for £15
The Alexandra, in Clapham, south London, has become the latest boozer to face a backlash over the cost of its drinks
A receipt from The Alexandra, in the south of the city, revealed patrons to the venue last week forked out £9.20 for two pints of Diet Coke at £4.60 a glass
In Cardiff however, the cost of a pint was considerably less coming in below the national average at £4.50.
Should they be in the mood, a Cardiff punter would be able to buy £11 pints of lager and have change from a £50 note.
Cardiff was also the cheapest place to purchase a burger and chips with average prices for the hearty combo coming in at £11.
London was once again the most expensive with the average cost of the meal coming in at £17 whilst one pub in Chichester sold the meal for a staggering £24.50.
This burger, sold at the beautiful Crown and Anchor on Chichester harbour comes with a dairy cow patty, brioche bun as well as Cornish cheddar, watercress mayonnaise, chutney and bacon.
Nationally, the average cost of a pint of Coke came in at £3.
At The Auctioneers in Glasgow, a beef burger meal cost £10.25, a pint of Pepsi was £3 and a pint of Carling was £4.25.
In response to soaring costs, pub-goers are now facing having to spend less time at their beloved local than they use to as a poll of British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) members found 32 per cent had reduced their hours due to high costs.
Emma McClarkin, the boss of BBPA, said: ‘They have been grappling with a multitude of challenges. The decision to reduce hours is not one pubs want to make – it is a survival strategy in an unsustainably tough environment.’
On top of this, BBPA has found that 509 pubs shut down in 2023 and by June this year an estimated 750 could close.
A bartender pouring a pint. Pub-goers are now facing having to spend less time at the pub than they use to as a poll of British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) members found 32 per cent had reduced their hours due to high costs (stock image)
A mobile phone showing an energy bill statement. The owner of The Hawke pub Greg Kirk said: ‘It costs me way too much in terms of electricity and wages to keep the pub open when nobody is coming in as it just doesn’t make financial sense’ (stock image)
An electricity bill. The Old George Inn in Sykehouse in Yorkshire is facing similar issues to The Hawke. Landlady Rosie Nagaty, who runs the pub with her husband John, claims it costs the pub £250 just to open (stock image)
Speaking to the Daily Mirror, pub owners laid bare the scale of the issues facing the sector and the drastic measures they have taken to avoid closing.
The owner of the The Hawke in Hackney, Greg Kirk calls last orders as early as 8pm and quieter days he doesn’t even open.
He said: ‘Sometimes I don’t even feel like I am running a pub, because I believe a public house should be open seven days a week until at least 11pm.
‘But it costs me way too much in terms of electricity and wages to keep the pub open when nobody is coming in as it just doesn’t make financial sense.
I’m constantly having to think of ways to save money.’
Likewise, The Old George Inn in Sykehouse in Yorkshire is facing similar issues. Landlady Rosie Nagaty, who runs the pub with her husband John, claims it costs the pub £250 just to open.
Ms Nagaty said: We can’t afford to pay staff to stand in an empty pub with the heating and lights on and no customers. If customers aren’t in the pub by 8.30 or 9pm we have learned they don’t arrive any later.’
A bartender pouring a pint of Guinness. Speaking to the Daily Mirror , pub owners laid bare the scale of the issues facing the sector and the drastic measures they have taken to avoid closing (stock image)
Chairman of the Campaign for Real Ale Nik Antona told the Mirror: ‘Pubs are swimming upstream against challenges such as escalating costs of goods and employing staff, sky-high energy bills, the burden of unfair business rates and customers tightening their belts.
‘Last orders at an earlier time is preferential to the pub closing its doors for good and the local community losing its central hub. The fact that venues are being forced to make this decision should serve as a harsh wake-up call for government to support UK pubs, lest we lose them forever.’
If Labour win the General Election this year they have pledge to reduce business rates for small businesses and raise the threshold for small business rates relief to £25,000.