Wetherspoon’s boss vows to keep price rises to a minimum as he criticises energy bills

Beefed-up packaging tax will triple pub chain’s costs from the levy to £2.4m a year, says Tim Martin

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The boss of the pub chain Wetherspoon’s 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 will lead to the company’s costs from the tax tripling from £800,000 to £2.4m a year.