he boss of City Pub Group today took aim at dynamic pint pricing after it emerged some pub chains were raising prices at peak trading hours to boost their margins.
“I just think it’s wrong,” Clive Watson told the Standard.
“We sometimes change the booking fees for events depending on how far out people book. But on the actual night, when you’re having a good time, changing the drinks prices is not transparent.”
Slug & Lettuce and Yates’s owner Stonegate last week said it planned to ramp up prices by as much as 20p per pint during its busiest times.
But City Pub Group said intra-day pint price moves was not an option it was considering.
The firm today reported a 14% rise in like-for-like sales to £31.7 million for the first six months of the year, as the owner of the Bow Street Tavern in Covent Garden and the Cock & Bottle in Notting Hill hailed resilient demand despite poor summer weather and continued rail strikes.
Watson said demand had also been boosted in London by fans of the Rugby World Cup, while bookings for Christmas events were significantly higher than at the same point last year.
The business said it was in talks to acquire several new sites and was on course to hit its target of reaching a 60-strong pub estate, but Watson refused to say where they were located. “I don’t want Fuller’s or Young’s to nab them,” he said.
City Pub Group shares rose 1.2% to 87p.