Pubs in Northern Ireland make just 12p profit on every pint of beer, new industry figures reveal.
For with the average pint in Belfast currently sitting at £5.65, it means more than £5.50 is frothed off in taxes and ever-increasing venue overheads.
That’s according to research by Oxford Economics carried out for the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA).
It showed that the north’s beer and pub sector contributed more than £700 million in economic value last year.
And the sector also generated more than £670 million in tax - that’s enough to pay for Belfast’s Grand Central Station transport hub and Casement Park, with a bit left over.
In the UK as a whole, the beer and pub sector poured £34.3 billion in gross value added (GVA) into the economy and contributed £17.4 billion in tax in just one year.
On the back of the figures, the trade body is calling for a reduction in soaring costs of doing business and warns that the industry needs government support to make sure the sector can continue to contribute to the economy and boost the country’s finances.
The BBPA wants to see a cut in beer duty, business rates reform, and a pledge to keep the 75% business rates relief - which doesn’t apply in Northern Ireland - to ensure pubs can survive.
“If the Government truly is business-friendly, it must recognise that pubs and brewers are shouldering multiple taxes and costs that are squashing growth and could lead to businesses failing,” according to the body’s chief executive Emma McClarkin.
“There is no more meat on the bone to cut, which is why it we are calling on the Government to reduce the cost of doing business so we can continue to make a massive contribution to the public purse.
“It is imperative there is a reform in the business rates system which currently penalises bricks and mortar businesses like pubs, which pay five times more than their share of turnover.”
The industry is one of the most heavily taxed business sectors per pound of turnover in the UK, with tax alone making up 40% of brewing turnover and £1 in every £3 spent in pubs.
Pubs in Northern Ireland are now out-charging Dublin when it comes to selling booze, with the pinttracker.com website showing that the average price for a pint of Guinness in Belfast is £5.65 compared to just £4.75 (€5.62) in the Irish capital.
Hospitality Ulster chief executive Colin Neill, in a column for the Irish News in August, wrote: “While hospitality in the UK as a whole has suffered due to inflation, our members have been found to suffer at a higher rate across all cost categories, from wages to food and drink, and energy,” adding that he genuinely fears for the industry.