Many pubs and restaurants are set to put up their prices in July, making eating out more expensive just as the school holidays begin. Hospitality firms are blaming the rising cost of energy, with many saying that their turnover will decrease at the same time.
News of the price rises is contained in figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). These reveal that a raft of industries have been impacted by factors including rising energy, labour and raw material costs, which are set to affect the price of goods they offer and turnover rates.
Some 30% of all businesses said they expect to raise prices, with 42% citing energy prices as the main reason. Hospitality and food businesses look set to face the biggest impact, with nearly half (46%) of companies in these sectors expected to increase prices in July.
A quarter of businesses in these sectors also predict that their turnover will decrease in the same month. The figures also mentioned that in May, 15% of all businesses said domestic demand reduced from the previous month, with 21.8% in the hospitality sector reporting a decrease.
Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at asset management company Hargreaves Lansdown, said socialising is going to become more expensive, and consumers will have to make “big choices”. “It seems the price rises consumers have had to swallow at the tills may only get more painful this summer,” Ms Streeter said.
“The urge to socialise may be strong, but it’s set to get even more expensive in many bars, restaurants and hotels. Companies are really struggling with higher input prices, and rising gas and electricity bills in particular are becoming so onerous bosses can no longer keep absorbing them.”
The hospitality sector has faced problems with staff shortages, with ONS figures earlier in the month revealing that overall job vacancies rose to a new record of 1.3 million.
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