Greene King has become the latest operator to face a public backlash following its decision to charge an extra £1.80 on pints on match days, commonly referred to as “dynamic pricing”.
According to reports, Greene King sparked controversy by applying a 29% price increase at selected pubs, which saw supporters faced paying £8 instead of the usual £6.20 for a pint of San Miguel lager ahead of England’s match against Ireland.
England supporters have labelled the decision to increase prices during match days as “unacceptable.”
The pub near Wembley stadium said it implemented the “event pricing” model during “high-profile events” to cover the cost of additional staff.
It added the surcharge compensated it for losses relating to licensing laws that meant it had to close one hour before kick-off.
A spokesperson for the pub said: “Alongside many other businesses in the area, we sometimes raise prices during high-profile events at Wembley to help cover the increased costs of safely managing our pub during this time.
“This does not happen for every event but was the case for Sunday’s England vs Republic of Ireland game, due to the higher number of people working, increased numbers of door staff as well as all pubs in the area being required to close an hour before kick-off and while the game is on.
Consumer expert Jane Hawkes argues that these pub price surges means establishments “need to rethink their business model as it’s not a fair practice”.
Greene King defended these surged prices on their beers arguing the rising costs were necessary in order to cover the additional staffing that are needed on busy match days but said that the increase was an “event pricing” strategy and was different to traditional “dynamic pricing”, which sees pubs increase prices at busier times.