Wetherspoons pubs across Gedling borough are set to reduce prices on a range of meals and drinks following the Chancellor’s decision to reduce VAT on food, coffee and soft drinks from 20% to 5%
The company, which has pubs in Carlton, Arnold and Mapperley, is to fully pass on the tax benefit to its customers, starting on Wednesday, July 15.
The pub chain said the price of a number of products, including real ale, coffee, soft drinks, breakfasts, burgers and pizzas will all see price reductions, with ‘all reductions fully implemented by Monday, July 20.
As a result of the VAT reduction, Wetherspoon told Propel it will offer a pint of Ruddles Bitter for £1.29 (down 50 pence, on average), a pint of Doom Bar at £1.79 (down 31 pence, on average), Abbot Ale (down 40 pence, on average) and guest beers at £1.99 (down 26 pence, on average) at 764 of its pubs.
Lavazza coffee and tea will be reduced to £1.29 (down 16 pence, on average) at the 764 pubs, which will continue to offer free refills to customers, and soft drinks will be £1.69 for a 14oz glass of Diet Pepsi and £1.79 for standard Pepsi (down 11 pence, on average).
Breakfasts will be reduced to £3.49 (down 41 pence on average), pizzas, including a soft drink will start from £5.49 (down 66 pence, on average) and burgers and a soft drink will start from £4.99 (down 66 pence on average).
The discounts will be introduced at all Wetherspoon pubs across the country.
Wetherspoon founder and chairman Tim Martin said: “Wetherspoon will invest all the proceeds of the VAT reduction in lower prices, spread across both bar and food products, with the biggest reductions on real ale.
“Wetherspoon has campaigned for tax equality between pubs, restaurants and supermarkets for many years. Supermarkets pay no VAT on food sales and pubs pay 20%, and pay about two pence per pint of business rates, whist pubs pay about 20 pence. These tax differences have helped supermarkets to subsidise their selling prices of beer, wine and spirits, enabling them to capture about half of pubs’ beer sales, for example, in the past forty years. A VAT reduction will help pubs and restaurants reverse this trend – creating more jobs, helping high streets and eventually generating more tax income for the government.
“Congratulations to Chancellor Rishi Sunak for a sensible economic initiative, which is long overdue.”
