14 September 2023 , 08:48
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Wetherspoon is cutting the price of all food and drinks served in its pubs by 7.5% - but only for today.
For example, someone spending £10 on food and drinks will pay £9.25 as part of the one-day sale, which falls on Tax Equality Day. All food and drinks in pubs are subject to 20% VAT.
The pub chain wants to “highlight the benefit of a permanent VAT reduction in the hospitality industry”. In Scotland, prices will be reduced on food and non-alcoholic drinks, in line with Scottish licensing laws.
Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin, who founded the pub chain in 1979, said: “The biggest threat to the hospitality industry is the vast disparity in tax treatment among pubs, restaurants and supermarkets. Supermarkets pay zero VAT in respect of food sales, whereas pubs and restaurants pay 20%.
“This tax benefit allows supermarkets to subsidise the selling price of beer. Pubs have been under fantastic pressure for decades, because of the tax disadvantages which they have with supermarkets.
All of the country's airport Wetherspoons pubs ranked from best to worst
“It doesn’t make sense for the hospitality industry to subsidise supermarkets. Customers coming to Wetherspoon’s pubs on Thursday 14 September will find the price of their food and drinks to be lower than normal. We urge the chancellor to create tax equality between pubs and supermarkets.”
Wetherspoon runs just under 830 pubs across the UK and Ireland. You can locate your nearest boozer by using its pub finder tool.
The pub chain released its latest financial results in July and said sales had risen by 11% in the 10 weeks since the start of May, compared with the same period in 2019. But it comes after Wetherspoon announced last year that it was planning on closing 32 of its sites.
The Six Chimneys in Wakefield will shut on Monday, September 18, for redevelopment. The Moon on The Hill in Loughborough, Leicestershire, is set to close before the end of the year, although an exact date has not been confirmed.
Wetherspoon has previously said “almost all” of the pubs being shuttered were in areas where they had another one close by.
Has your Wetherspoon closed or is closing? Let us know: [email protected]