Six brewery chiefs are warning that pubs across the UK could be forced to close due to energy costs soaring by as much as 300%.
Brewery bosses are now calling for “immediate government intervention” on sky-high energy bills this winter.
They said the energy crisis would cause “real and serious irreversible” damage to the industry without support.
Bills are higher for businesses as they aren’t covered by a regulated energy price cap, unlike households.
The pub and brewery owners from six companies – JW Lees, Carlsberg Marston’s, Admiral Taverns, Drake & Morgan, Greene King and St Austell Brewery – sit on the board of the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA).
In an open letter to the government, they urged immediate intervention, including a support package and a cap on the price of energy for businesses.
Nick Mackenzie, the boss of Greene King – one of the UK’s largest pub groups, with over 3,100 pubs – said the company could face the “the prospect of pubs being unable to pay their bills, jobs being lost and beloved locals across the country forced to close their doors”.
He added they would mean all the support given to pubs through the pandemic to stay in businesses “could be wasted”.
Meanwhile, Chris Jowsey, boss of Admiral Taverns which has 1,600 pubs said his tenanted pubs now pay more in energy bills than they do in rent.
The government has previously said no policy will be announced until the new prime minister takes office in September.
On Friday the energy regulator Ofgem, which sets the price cap on household bills, said the cap would rise by 80% in October.
The number of pubs in England and Wales continues to fall, hitting its lowest level on record, according to new analysis.
The research found that there were 39,970 pubs in June, down by more than 7,000 since 2012.
According to Altus, who compiled the report, 400 pubs in England and Wales closed last year and some 200 shut in the first half of 2022 as inflation started to eat in to profits.
