Cheers, Rishi: Wetherspoon’s prices slashed after VAT cut
WETHERSPOON’S is set to become the first major brand to pass on a pandemic VAT cut with up to 50p off a pint of real ale in a ‘Sunak Special’.
Reductions on Doom Bar, Abbot, Ruddles and various guest ales will be advertised with posters featuring the smiling teetotal Chancellor.
It will also push a series of ‘Dishi Rishi’ deals with savings on breakfasts, burgers, pizza and coffee. Price cuts are also being lined up on lagers, Guinness, fish and chips, wraps, paninis, and deli deals.
The move follows Mr Sunak’s decision to cut VAT from 20 per cent to 5 per cent across hospitality and tourism, which comes into effect tomorrow. Wetherspoon’s is not making a blanket reduction, but it has targeted bigger cuts on popular items. It will offer a pint of Ruddles bitter for £1.29 – down 50p on average – and Doom Bar will fall 31p to £1.79. Breakfasts will be reduced by an average 41p to £3.49, while there will be a saving of 66p on pizza and a soft drink, bringing the starting price to £5.49.
Burgers and a soft drink will start from £4.99 – down by an average 66p. The savings, which will be phased in from tomorrow through to next Monday, will apply in 764 pubs. Another 103 in town and city centres, airports and stations, which have higher costs, will see smaller cuts.
The Wetherspoon’s move will put pressure on other pubs and restaurants, fast food chains, staycation holiday companies and attractions to cut prices in line with the reduction in VAT.
However, there are suspicions many will decide to keep prices the same and pocket the benefit. Wetherspoon’s, run by Brexit backer Tim Martin, is trying to rebuild trade following criticism of the way it treated staff who were put on furlough during the lockdown with taxpayers footing the bill for 80 per cent of their wages.
In theory, the company is in line for a taxpayer handout of as much as £43million from the Chancellor under a jobs retention scheme designed to reward businesses with £1,000 for every member of staff they keep on.
Some businesses, such as Primark, have decided to forego these payments. Wetherspoon’s says it will consider its position over the coming months.
Announcing the price cuts, Mr Martin said Wetherspoon’s would ‘invest all the proceeds of the VAT reduction in lower prices’. He hailed the Chancellor as helping to provide a fairer market with supermarkets who pay no VAT on food sales.
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