Pubs offer free drinks in bid to boost trade

THIRSTY patrons can claim a free drink from more than 1,250 pubs across the UK each week throughout October.

Ei Publican Partnerships is running the scheme through its pubs, with more than 30 drinks part of the offer, including Heineken, John Smiths Strongbow

Dark Fruit, Budweiser, and Rekorderligare.

To claim a free drink a week, pub-goers need to visit great-british-pubs.co.uk and register on the app.

The website allows them to search for participating pubs in their area.

Nick Light, from pub group Ei Publican Partnerships, said: ‘It’s more important than ever that we support our local pubs in the new ‘normal’ to help the industry to get back on its feet.

‘To encourage people back in, we’re running our largest ever initiative and offering pub goers their first drink for free every week in October.’

The scheme is part of the ‘Here’s To The

Pub’ campaign, aimed at encouraging people to love their local.

It follows warnings that hospitality businesses, including pubs and bars, could lose more than half a million jobs by Christmas unless more is done to support the troubled sector.

Speaking to MPs at a Treasury select committee, UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said: ‘We fear that unless there are amendments for those areas which are particularly hit, you won’t avoid the cliff edge in October and we have got large numbers of redundancies that are forecast in October because of how the jobs support scheme is set up.’