Big UK pub chains signal price rises as result of budget hit

Young’s says it is preparing to take a £11m annual hit through rising costs while Wetherspoons expects tax and cost rises to go up by £60m over the next year. Photograph: Alex Segre/Alamy

The pub chain Young’s has said it is preparing to take an £11m annual hit from rises in employer taxes announced in the budget.

The chief executive, Simon Dodd, said a rise in employer national insurance contributions (NICs), coupled with an increase in the national minimum wage, would result in “significant increased costs for our industry in the near term”.