Interactive map reveals the cheapest Spoons in London for a pint during the Euros for just £2.24 - and the most expensive
The Euros is here and there is just one question on everyone's mind...where can I find the cheapest pub to watch it in?
With the average price of a pint of lager now being £4.80 across the UK and an eye watering £5.69 in London, according to the British Beer and Pub Association, it is no surprise punters are seeking to scale back their spending.
For many, their go to boozer to save a few quid is the local Wetherspoons, which boasts some of the cheapest beer prices of any pub chain in the country.
But even its prices are shockingly varied, with a new interactive map produced by MailOnline showing the price of the cheapest pint of lager more than doubles across Wetherspoons pubs in London.
A pint of Bud Light costs as much as £5.50 in one Wetherspoons in London, which is a 121% increase compared with the cheapest of £2.48 in the English capital.
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For many, their go to boozer to save a few quid is the local Wetherspoons , which boasts some of the cheapest beer prices of any pub chain in the country (Stock image)
The figures, which were compiled using the Wetherspoons app, compared the prices of over 90 pubs across the whole of inner and outer London.
Unsurprisingly, they show that the further you travel into the centre of the city, the more you will end up spending, with Wetherspoons pubs in Westminster found to sell a pint of Bud Light for the highest price on average.
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At the cheapest venue in the borough, The Montagu Pyke, a pint of Bud Light costs £4.21, while a pint of Leffe Blonde will set you back £6.56.
Meanwhile, just metres away in Leicester Square, the Moon on the Hill currently charges £4.85 for a Bud Light and a whopping £7.30 for a Leffe Blonde.
Although, this is surprisingly not the most expensive venue in the whole of London, with the price of a Bud Light at The Crown Rivers in Heathrow's Terminal 5 currently £5.50.
This is compared to the most expensive beer available at the pub, a Leffe Blonde, costing an eye-watering £7.40.
But bizarrely, if holiday goers plan ahead and get the pints in before going through security, just a few miles down the road from Heathrow is the cheapest Wetherspoon's pub in all of London.
The Botwell Inn, which is just a few miles from the airport, currently sells a pint of Bud Light for a measly £2.48, while a Leffe Blonde costs only £4.33.
The Moon Under Water in Leicester Square currently charges £4.85 for a Bud Light and a whopping £7.30 for a Leffe Blonde
Baxter's Court, a Wetherspoon pub in Hackney, East London, sells a pint of Bud Light for £2.64
The Moon on the Hill in Sutton has some of the cheapest pints compared to other Spoons venues in London, with the price of a pint starting from as little as £2.48
Wetherspoons pubs located in boroughs in outer London currently sell a pint of Bud Light for less than £2.50 on average.
In each one of the 15 pubs located in Redbridge, Enfield, Harrow, Waltham Forest, Sutton and Hounslow, the price of a Bud costs only £2.48.
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So for any punters looking for a bargain and are willing to abandon the safety of the inner London sanctum, those are the places to be.
But even in the inner city prices vary tremendously even in pubs that are just a few metres apart.
At The Masque Haunt on Old Street in central London, the cheapest pint of beer will cost a reasonable £3.52, while the most expensive will set you back £5.96.
However, at The Sir John Hawkshaw, which is just over a mile away, prices for exactly the same beers, a Bud Light and a Leffe Blonde, are currently £4.48 and £6.97 respectively.
That's an increase of over 27% for the price of a Bud Light and an increase of around 17% for a Leffe Blonde, which could simply be avoided by walking just over 20 minutes down the road.
The extraordinarily low prices on offer at some pubs has often baffled punters, wandering what it is about Wetherspoons that can allow it to charge so little for a pint.
Many seem to think the reason behind it is that the company buys drinks that are close to going off so as to get the best deal available.
The London and South Western pub in Battersea charges £3.24 for a Bud Light and £5.84 for a Leffe Blonde
The Surrey Docks in Southwark is one of a number of cheap Spoons pubs across London, charging only £2.64 for a Bud Light and £4.73 for a Leffe Blonde
Spoons boss Tim Martin (pictured) emphasised the quantity of booze that is bought and sold in each pub is the real reason behind the chain's success.
However, Spoons boss Tim Martin has recently put this myth to bed, emphasising that the quantity of booze that is bought and sold in each pub is the real reason behind the chain's success.
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He told The Sun earlier this month: 'There's no real secret, we sell a lot of beer.
'We've got bigger pubs than average and we've got very long term relationships with our beer suppliers, so they know that we're not buying it for three months or six months. Our longest contract now has got 17 years to go.
'I've never hung outside the brewery gate waiting for it to go out of date. It would be impossible.'
Martin revealed his business mentality was inspired by Sam Walton, the founder of US retail giant Walmart, who strived to undercut his company's competitors with the cheapest prices.
He added: 'Sam Walton used to say 'we sell three for two', and that's true of Wetherspoons. Our average sales per pub are probably far more than double most pubs.'
Wetherspoons has confirmed that all of its pubs across London will be showing the Euros and like many other hospitality venues across the country, it is hopeful the tournament will provide a much-needed spending boost.
However, Spoons boss Tim Martin has recently put this myth to bed, emphasising that the quantity of booze that is bought and sold in each pub is the real reason behind the chain's success.
England footie fans typically fill out pubs and bars as they watch the Euros on the big screen
Hospitality bosses hope for a much-needed boost in trade from England's Euro 24 campaign
The British Beer and Pub Association expects more than 300million pints to be sold during the first four weeks of the tournament, fetching around £1.4billion for pubs
Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, said: 'The Euros will be a huge event for pubs and hospitality venues across the country.
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'Enormous numbers of people will be flocking to watch the home nations at the pub – the perfect place to watch live sport, outside of the stadium itself.
'We know hospitality venues are excited to put on a memorable experience for fans and everything is crossed that the two home nations competing can go far in the tournament, delivering both a welcome boost to pubs and a summer feel-good factor to the nation.'
Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, whose members own more than 20,000 pubs and brew 90% of Britain's beer, said: 'We expect nearly 300 million pints to be sold during the four weeks of the tournament, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, with a total value of around £1.4 billion.
'The Euros is a busy time for pubs, as fans choose to watch games together in their local pub or bar, while enjoying a drink or two.'
The tournament will come as a breath of fresh air for the UK hospitality sector, which suffered huge losses during the Covid 19 pandemic and are now being ravaged by the cost of living crisis.
An estimated 30 bars are closing down each week, while dozens more are being forced to reduce their hours due to high costs.
Kate Nicholls (pictured), chief executive of industry body UKHospitality, has called for venues to be offered extra help to survive including reduced VAT and fixed business rates
Wetherspoon announced price rises across its menu at an average of 3% earlier this year
Figures from earlier in the year showed that 509 pubs shut down in 2023, equating to a loss of 6,000 jobs.
A heartbreaking 772 pubs shut either permanently or temporarily between January and June last year, while long-term closes have almost doubled with 500 reported last year compared with 251 in 2021.
According to the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), countless pubs are closing every week because of sky-high energy costs and punters having less disposable cash, devastating local areas in the process.
Pub owners across Britain are grappling with a perfect storm of soaring costs and falling demand as they close as early as 8pm in a battle to stay in business.
One landlord in Leeds said he has to put in 16 to 18 hour days, seven days a week to keep his pub afloat.
Terry Weston, 65, takes beer deliveries at 6am on a Tuesday at the New George in Kirkstall and is at Leeds Market at 7am on other days to buy bread rolls for the £2 sandwiches he puts on to entice customers in.
He has already cancelled the pub's Sky Sports subscription after it rocketed to £680 a month and only calls in casual staff for help when he's desperate for it.
But Mr Weston - who hasn't had a holiday for five years - says he may have to close one day a week if things don't pick up.
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He said: 'Sunday nights are my busiest night because we have karaoke on. Friday's used to be rammed when the rugby was on, but I had to get rid of Sky.
'They put it up to £680 a month, so I cut it off and they fined me for breaching the contract even though I'd given them a month's notice. We only had it for the football and rugby, but my regulars said it's not worth it if it's going to bankrupt you.
'I had a pub near here before this one and the brewery put my beer prices and rent up so much I couldn't afford to stay open. It's been flattened now and they've built houses on there.'
The owner of a 15th century pub in Hampshire said she regularly has to close up because it is 'too expensive' to keep the electricity running.
Lisa Moore, 63, who has been the landlady of The Tudor Rose in Romsey for 11 years, also said that business has become 'really hard' since the pandemic.
The pub - which has been in the town since 1447 - used to stay open until 11pm, but now regularly shuts early.
She told MailOnline: 'We have to close anywhere between 6pm and 8pm, where we usually used to be open until 11pm.
'It's just the customers, if anything, and it's too expensive to have staff. Obviously, there's a lot of electricity being used.'
Speaking about the impact of Covid-19, she continued: 'After lockdown, everything got really hard.
'We haven't really been able to pull ourselves up after lockdown. The only good day is Sunday, but that doesn't keep us up for the rest of the week.
'If there's customers, we will stay open for them, if there's no customers then we end up shutting up. It's just not worth keeping open just for that one or two people walking past.'
One pub landlady told how she had been forced to reduce her opening hours amid the cost of living crisis and rising energy bills.
Terry Weston, who manages The New George Pub in Kirkstall, Leeds
Lisa Moore inside her pub, the 15th century Tudor Rose in Romsey, Hampshire
The Tudor Rose pub in Romsey used to stay open until 11pm, but now regularly shuts early
Marsha Jones has run The Inn at Eastburn near Keighley in West Yorkshire, for the last four years - but said she has been forced to close on a Wednesday because of a decrease in customers.
The 48-year-old said she has had to cut staff, close earlier and on quieter days does not even open because it's not 'financially viable'.
She told MailOnline: 'Before Covid, we were really busy and had around 15 staff. We were always full, open until late and then everything changed.
'We used to be open Wednesday to Sunday but now we're only open Thursday to Sunday.
'People aren't coming into drink anymore, they are coming into eat. They aren't coming in late at night so the late night drinking has stopped. We used to do all drink and a little bit of food, and now we're just doing more food.
'We also close really early now - we close at 9pm on a Thursday, 10.30pm on a Friday and Saturday and 8pm on a Sunday. Those sort of midnight finishes are all completely out of the window.'
Ms Jones believes she is getting fewer customers because breweries have 'massively' increased their prices, which means it is now cheaper to buy alcohol from the supermarkets.