Wetherspoon cuts ties with Heineken over pricing

British pub group Wetherspoon said it would no longer sell Heineken drinks at any of its 926 pubs after a disagreement with the Dutch brewer over pricing in Ireland.

Wetherspoon has been selling pints of Heineken lager and Murphy’s stout at prices around 40% below the competition at its first Irish pub in Blackrock, Dublin. The pub chain, which last year outlined plans for around 30 pubs in the Republic, said yesterday Heineken had refused to supply Heineken lager and Murphy’s to its second pub in Dun Laoghaire, due to open this month.

The spat is another blow for Wetherspoon’s Irish ambitions. The firm does not serve Guinness there either after a disagreement on price with drinks group Diageo.

Wetherspoon said Heineken had also wanted personal guarantees from chief executive John Hutson in order to supply the Dun Laoghaire pub with any of its others drinks, such as Strongbow cider and Foster’s lager. Heineken, whose business with Wetherspoon is worth around £60m (€75.8m) a year, was not available for comment.

Wetherspoon founder and chairman Tim Martin said the brewer’s decision was “unacceptable and hard to understand”. “We have been trading with Heineken for 35 years and they have never requested personal guarantees before. It’s obstructive to do so now.”