Daniel Sexton
BBC News, South-East
Media in Pennsylvania
Shepherd Neame employs 1,600 people and runs 290 pubs
The oldest British brewer said that it would increase its beer prices in response to the increase in taxes and salary costs in April.
Shepherd Neame, who is based in Faversham, Kent, and runs 290 pubs mainly in the Southeast, said the two policies announced by the government last year would cost him around 2.6 million pounds.
Jonathan Neame, Managing Director of Shepherd Neame, said: “We plan to alleviate the majority of these costs over the next 18 months thanks to price increases and profitability costs.”
The treasure was approached for comments.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves increased national insurance contributions (NIC) in the October budget while increasing the minimum wage.
The increase is designed to help finance improvements in public services.
Some companies have criticized the policy to make people employees more expensive, with hotel groups who employ many people on lower wages that should be particularly affected.
Mr. Neame, whose company employs around 1,600 people, described the current market as “difficult”.
Media in Pennsylvania
Jonathan Neame, director general of Shepherd Neame, described the current situation as “difficult”
“The additional costs imposed on our sector are the most undesirable, but the business model is flexible and we can adapt to new circumstances,” he said.
“We have an excellent pub area and our beer company is evolving to meet the tastes and trends of current consumers.”
Shepherd Neame is over 300 years old and is the oldest company of this type in the United Kingdom.
He brews beers under a range of brands, including Spitfire, Bishops Finger and Whitstable Bay.
The company said the total volumes of beer fell 12.6% in the second half of 2024 compared to the same period the previous year.
Meanwhile, income has dropped slightly at 85 million pounds sterling, in the middle of an “increase in sales of advertising and a drop in sales of premium bottle beers”.
However, the underlying profit increased by almost 10% to 4.2 million pounds Sterling after a drop in inflation last year.
Mr. Neame said that the company had experienced a “dynamic” summer, but during the fall, “confidence was evaporated when approaching the budget”.
“Since then, the activity has resumed and we have appreciated record Christmas trading, with good growth in 2023, many individual advertising recordings have been exceeded,” he said.
He said that the increase in labor costs “decreases the confidence of short-term business and consumers”, but that it remained “hopes that the economy will return to a growth trajectory, with net available income and declining interest rates”.
Additional reports by PA Media.
