By Daniel Hunter
Following the news in March’s budget announcement that a planned 3p increase in beer duty had been cancelled and replaced by a 1p decrease, research by Barclaycard has found that spending in pubs on credit and debit cards following the cut has been boosted by 4%.
The research by Barclaycard looked at spending in pubs in the two weeks preceding the cut and the two weeks following the cut. After taking into account the effect of usual seasonal fluctuations in pub spending as the weather improves, Barclaycard found the duty cut had delivered a 4% boost to pubs in the UK.
Whilst the trend across the UK was positive, some regions saw growth significantly above the average with Wales seeing an increase of 11.8%, the North East by 6.9% and the East Midlands by 5.4%. Meanwhile, London and Scotland both saw pub spending fall with decreases of 2.1% and 3.5% respectively.
“This modest increase in pub spending will be a welcome sign for an industry that has faced many challenges over recent years," a Barclaycard spokesperson said.
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