The cartoon features a crowded traditional British pub, full of chatting customers. But the keeper gets annoyed, in a cry from the heart: “I’m glad you all came to enjoy our heating, but could you buy a drink?” » The caricature, signed Matt, the excellent draftsman of the Daily Telegraph, sums up the atmosphere in the UK. With gas and electricity bills that will increase by 80% in October, after an initial increase of 54% in April, the British are facing a violent price shock. For an average household, the bills will reach 3,550 pounds per year (3,880 euros), almost tripling over one year. Enough to turn off the heating at home and go to the pub…
And again, household prices are regulated by the regulator. This is not the case for businesses, whose energy costs are soaring. Pubs, a British institution, are among the most exposed. Six major chains (Greene King, Admiral Taverns, JW Lees, Carlsberg Marston’s, Drake & Morgan and St Austell Brewery) have just sounded the alarm in an open letter written together: “Rate increases [d’énergie] can reach 300% compared to before the pandemic, with an average of 150% in the sector of pubs and brewing activities, which puts jobs and businesses at risk”they explain.
A few months of reprieve
Tim Martin is the head of Wetherspoon, a chain that includes a thousand pubs. If he is not a signatory of the letter, he faces the same energy shock. “On average our pubs have an electricity and gas bill of £65,000 [75 000 euros] per year, he specifies. We had negotiated a contract before the current increase and therefore we have a few months left before the prices increase. But it is estimated that we will face surges of 50% to 100% in the coming months. » However, on average, each pub made – before the pandemic – an annual profit of 120,000 pounds [139 000 euros]. “If prices double, we’re talking about a halving of our profits. »
Of course, there is no question of standing still. It is possible to turn off some lights, to reduce the heating a little, to find energy savings. For Wetherspoon, a chain of pubs hugely popular with Britain’s lower middle classes, with its affordable menus and good family welcome, and which was posting £100million in pre-pandemic profits, the shock is absorbable. “I was much more worried at the time of the confinementsadds Mr. Martin. The situation is difficult, but the problems can be overcome. »
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