The Price of a Pint

Nice quick question here: why does the price of a pint vary across the country?

Sometimes student get a bit confused about the Euro. Because it’s often referred to as a ‘single currency’ people think that’s the same thing as everything being the same price. “What – do you mean that now a beer costs the same everywhere in Europe?” No – that’s not it. And a quick tour round Britain will rapidly reveal that the price of a pint varies widely within the country, where everything is priced in £££s.

Before you have a look at this article or read on, what do you think are the main factors at work?

The Great Britain-wide average price of a pint was £2.80, a 4% rise on 2009. But this covers broad regional disparities, with the cheapest part of the country, the West Midlands, falling well short at £2.45 below the most expensive, Surrey, at £3.08. The co-editor of the Good Pub Guide thinks the variations are due to the socio-economic make-up of each area, the levels of competition, the nature of their bars and the type of beer on offer.

“In areas where you have heavy concentrations of the big chains, the prices tend to be higher,” she says. “In pubs which brew their own beer, prices are on average a third lower. “Beer is more expensive in London because they have a large concentration of people who will come out from work and go drinking. But at the same time, food in London pubs is incredibly good value.” Some central London bars charge upwards of £5 a pint, but what distinguishes these from their cheaper rivals is not so much the quality of the beer on offer as the supposedly prime location. A pint can be obtained in the middle of the capital for less than £2, if one is prepared to visit a chain like JD Wetherspoon, in which volume and low prices are seen as more important than atmosphere.

The research and information manager for the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra), believes that socio-economic divides are important, “Nowadays, it’s the same class divide - but in different pubs, so you’re paying £4 or £5 in a London-style bar where the beer might not be any good.”