Wetherspoons boss vows to keep price rises to a minimum as he criticises energy bills

The Wetherspoon’s boss. Tim Martin, said the company had been hit by a £60m annual cost rise from increases in employers’ national insurance contributions and the minimum wage. Photograph: Martin Godwin/The Guardian

The boss of the pub chain Wetherspoons has vowed to keep price increases to a “minimum”, after blaming a beefed-up packaging tax and rising energy bills for extra costs.

Tim Martin said the recently introduced “extended producer responsibility” levy on packaging would lead to the company’s costs from the tax tripling from £800,000 to £2.4m a year.