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Following a recent price increase "in-line" with this year's budget, there are rumblings of a further hike in beer prices to kick in just before the summer. Yes, Palmers have done it again, and it won't be long before you don't get much change from a tenner after buying a couple of pints.
 Like natural disasters, Palmers' price increases happen every year, are devastating to begin with, then after a while, the impact wears off and everyone forgets about them. Palmers rely on our apathy where it comes to the price of beer because they know very well that local trade through the winter months amounts to only 10% of their turnover in terms of beer sales. So a boycott, if hell were to freeze over and that were to happen, is worth risking. Plus, the palmers pub drinking population would overcrowd the handful of free-houses in Bridport. Let's face it, a boycott is about as realistic as the Bridport going on the wagon!
So! Is the price of beer dictated to our friendly landlords and ladies? OR is there a choice? Does the beer go up because Palmers are increasing the rent, or the council increasing their business rates? Are landlords forced to put their prices up by other factors? You remember when the new BA opened? Wasn't it like £3.80 for a pint of Vitamin K?! and £10.50 for fish, chips and peas? Then it all transpired that the ill-fated landlady's outgoings were so high that these figures were required simply for the survival of the premises. Palmers shot themselves in the foot with this and were forced to reduce the lease in order to drop the prices and keep the pub viable through the off-season. Vitamin K plummeted to somewhere around £3.10 I believe. There are Palmers pubs that increase their prices at every given opportunity, and there are some that hold back. I was very surprised to discover that a difference of up to 30p can be paid for a pint of Vitamin K, depending on which Palmers pub you drink it in. I'm not talking about a difference between The Boot or The Oddfellows either. Some large main-thoroughfare palmers pubs manage to keep their prices down. So we can still point the finger at Palmers. As well as being the root of all evil, they dictate hikes in the leases, the beers, the soft drinks etc. But where there is any room for a Landlord to consider the accumulative effect on the wallets of their punters, perhaps £1 on every main course and starter would be more appreciated! Bridport has been, and always will be lubricated entirely by booze. It's the whole wino, 4-day-bender, smashed-Sunday, mid-week-mayhem, party after party and after party parties, boozy-breakfasts and Windowlene slammers that go a long way to making Bridport great. So let’s keep it that way!! YEEE HAAAA! Bridport Radio would like to stress that the views expressed in this letter are not necessarily the ones held by us.
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