Increasing drink prices was last resort - landlady

A Staffordshire pub said it was reluctantly having to increase drink prices to help stay afloat, or face losing staff or cutting opening hours.

Laura Ball, who runs Charlie Bassetts in Dilhorne, said she held off for a long as she could after beer costs rose again in January.

The increase was due to rising supplier costs and increasing bills at the pub, she said.

"It's dwindling down that much, you can't physically stay afloat sometimes", she said.

The imminent World Cup and the government allowing pubs to stay open later for games has been good news for the industry, but Ball said it was still a struggle.

Pubs and music venues in England also received a 15% discount on their business rates bills from this month with no increase for two years.

"Maintaining that price of beer, maintaining that price of everything else is becoming increasingly difficult because we're then not making a profit.

"It's so hard to stay afloat," she said.

She added that they have tried to make savings in other areas first and drinks were the "last resort".

"It's cutting your staff down, it's closing for food on a Monday, putting deals on like your coffee and cake deals, instead of trying to push the beer up... that was our last resort, basically."

The pub, which also has a campsite, has so far absorbed the latest rise earlier this year, but decided earlier this month that the price of drinks would increase.

"We don't want to do it but we've had no choice but to do it," Ball added.

She said customers had been welcoming towards the price rise and understood the reasons behind it.

"We try to put deals on where we can... we have some people come in and say 'oh, gosh £4.20 for a pint? You can go Wetherspoons and buy..', but it's a different aspect I think.

"Quite a few people on the campsite are coming from down south so they'll go, 'oh, god a bargain. We're used to paying £7.40 for a pint of Madri.' Here it's £5.20."

But Ball said they were fighting against potential customers now just staying at home to drink.

"The summer months are really helping but you've got three or four months over the whole 12 months that you're making a good earning, but it seems like the economy and people are just turning to drink at home because it is so extortionate."

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