A pub landlord who has worked in the hospitality industry for more than 40 years has warned huge increases in energy costs will force businesses to close and see people lose their livelihoods. Nick Newman, who is the landlord of the Blue Bell pub in Cardiff city centre, said some businesses are facing six-fold increases in prices and is calling for the UK Government to intervene.
Nick, 62, who is also the chair of the Cardiff Licensees Forum, said the industry was just about getting back on its feet after the pressures of the coronavirus pandemic and now faces yet another "bleak" situation as businesses grapple with rising costs. Speaking to The Sunday Times he described the situation as "Armageddon " for landlords.
Emphasising the real-time impacts on businesses that the rising energy prices are having, he said: "If we increased the price of our pints the way energy companies have increased the costs of their kWh you'd be looking at £20 a pint. That's the situation we are in."
