A HUGE survey of beer charges in thousands of pubs across the UK has found massive differences in the price of a pint, with some drinkers having to shell out 80p more for their favourite tipple, it was revealed today.
A study by the GMB union showed that the average price of a pint of lager was £2.50, but charges ranged from £2.16 to £3.06.
The union is to submit its findings to the Office of Fair Trading and the European Union as part of its campaign to highlight the difference in prices between free houses and pubs run by the large so-called pubcos.
The GMB has accused pubcos of driving up the prices of beer in their pubs.
The union’s study of 5,000 pubs also showed that the average price of a pint of draught bitter was £2.24 while the average price of a pint of bottled and canned lager was £2.54.
The average price for lager in the North East was £2.26, the lowest in Britain, while in London the average was £2.72, which was the highest.
Samuel Smith managed pubs in Yorkshire were selling the cheapest pint of standard lager in Britain at an average of £1.68, according to the GMB.
Wetherspoon pubs in the North East were selling the second cheapest pint of standard lager at an average of £1.78.
Wetherspoons in Scotland and Yorkshire come joint third, selling a pint of standard lager at an average of £1.91.
At the other end of the scale, customers of bars of the InterContinental Hotels Group were charged an average of between £3.53 and £3.30 for a pint of standard lager in a number of regions, said the union.
The next most expensive were Youngs managed pubs in London, where the price of standard lager was an average of £3.25 a pint.
GMB official Martin Smith said: "This analysis shows that the big pubcos, which dominate the pub industry in the UK, are charging an average of between £2.16 and £3.06 for a pint of standard lager. This is between 7p and 80p a pint above the price at a free house such as Wetherspoons, depending on the UK region.
"The GMB analysis shows a wide range of prices in pubs across Britain. There are a smaller number of mainly managed pubs charging around £2 or below, the majority of big pubcos tied houses charging between £2.16 and £3.06 and a smaller number of mainly managed upmarket venues charging £3.20 a pint and above. The picture varies widely by region.
"The big pubcos have tied their pub tenants to buy wholesale from them at up to 80p per pint more than the price in the wholesale market.
"This is translating into higher retail prices for the customers and into poor living standards for the tenants. The additional 7p to 80p a pint is being used by the pubcos to pay interest on their securitised debts to bondholders often in offshore tax havens.
"GMB is campaigning to end the tie to secure lower prices for customers and a better living for the pub tenants."
