Beer boss: pint price allegations are “ill-informed” electioneering

Monday 20 November 2017

One of the island’s top pub leaders has hit back at “ill-informed and frankly false allegations” that the price of a pint is too high, arguing that any moves to slap tax on the industry are the likely result of electioneering instead.

Mark Crowther, CEO of the Liberation Group, also says plans for the booze tax have come completely out of the blue, with zero consultation.

Mr Crowther's comments come after Senator Philip Ozouf suggested slashing the Treasury Minister’s proposed new 20% Retail Tax by half, and using a 10% tax on the liquor trade to help make up part of the shortfall.

He also expressed concerns over the margins on alcohol sales in the on-licence sector, suggesting that publicans made too much money on the price of a pint - and would like to see the whole industry undergo a review by the Channel Islands regulator CICRA.

According to his figures, the average pint (net of Duty and GST) stands around £3.03 in Jersey, while UK prices stand around £2.06 – a difference of 97p.

Pictured: Mr Crowther says that the figures used in Senator Ozouf's proposals were not reflective of true UK pint prices.

But his claims have since been strongly slapped down by Mark Crowther, CEO of the Liberation Group, which has a 115-strong pub estate across the Channel Islands and South West England.

Speaking to Express, he slammed the fact that the proposals had come “completely out of the blue as usual with no industry consultation.”

“We don’t recognise the figures Senator Ozouf is quoting on alcohol pricing… as previously, I don’t believe they are comparing like with like on retail pricing,” Mr Crowther explained.

These weren’t the only figures he disputed. Senator Ozouf had claimed that Taverners licence-holders’ profits were in the region of £4.5million, and that a 10% tax could therefore yield around £450,000 for the Treasury each year. 

Pictured: Senator Ozouf believes that his proposed tax could bring in £450,000.

“I wonder if [Senator Ozouf] has added a zero to his profitability quote as I can’t imagine any CI business would make the money he is quoting?” Mr Crowther commented.

Though disagreeing with the principles of Senator Ozouf’s ideas, he said that the industry had nothing to fear from a review by the competition regulator. 

“We would be happy to meet with CICRA, as we certainly do not make excessive margins in CI… We have a fast growing UK business as part of Liberation Group so are fully aware of the UK market from pricing, margins, product supply, etc. It is therefore highly frustrating when politicians make ill-informed and frankly false accusations which I can only presume is for their own political gain.”