Sadly they will become acceptable most places soon - inflation will take care of that. I remember bars refusing to take twenty's as the night wore on. Now you can barely get a round out of a twenty.
I’m sure (as far as bars go) contactless payment will be preferred more in future. COVID has sped up the process of that. It’s unlikely to see many £50 notes around. There were already a lot of “card only” bars in London and that was pre-COVID.
Also inflation is low and will be low for quite some time so that won’t be a factor.
Ever since I've blamed myself in Scotland in 2019 when I tried to pay for a group of friends and the restaurant had a random "no foreign credit cards" rule, cash is and always will be king when it comes to the UK for me.
In many countries, accepting cash is legally required. Unless a foreign national can pay with their credit card reliably, such a rule should be the required fallback payment method.
The UK (and I would expect many countries) does not require merchants to sell anything to you if they don't want to. They're allowed to decide they don't like your money, and too bad you can't buy anything.
Some constituent countries of the UK have legal tender laws but a legal tender law only applies to debts and you have not incurred a debt when you offer to buy something.
Actually, when I sit in a restaurant, as I did, and have just finished my meal, as I have, and ask to pay via card (as the sticker in the lobby told me is possible), I have incurred a debt, which I am willing to pay, either by card, or should that not be possible, with cash as a legal tender fallback.
In pubs that are card-only, pay-first, you might have an argument - but this may become a discrimination lawsuit the moment my card gets denied when the sticker says it should be accepted.
I am not sure about this. I know there is a lot of controversy over inflation measures (mostly the basket of goods used, impact of tech in holding down the basket)
I take a unscientific approach in that I had a bar menu from 1971 (my birth year) showing the prices in old and new money. A pint of Skol was 5 new pennies in 1971, and today you can find an equivalent pint of lager at about 5 pounds.
So that's 100 fold increase in my lifetime.
A lot of that came out of the 70's and early 80s but current inflation does, anecdotally, seem higher than 1-2% a year.
Not based on my family outgoings, but if you want to use gut feeling rather than scientific measures that’s fine.
Ale prices themselves have increased 73% since 2000, lager 85%, according to beerandpub.com
Annecdoatally in 2002 I was paying £1.60 in a student bar in the south west. Earlier this year I paid over £5.50 in a sam smiths in london, you might think it’s increased, but those were two very different pubs though. London prices are far higher than the majority of the country, and the range is even higher now. Perhaps CPI should be measured on a regional basis, as rents in london increased due to high demand and high paying jobs, prices of goods and services had to also.
Since 2008 according to the British beer and pub association, annual beer inflation has been 2.8%. The most expensive beer since 2008 has increased on average 5% a year.
Beer will be higher inflation than other measures like Big Macs as the tax has increased on it - both duty and vat. Pre tax beer prices were 1.43 in 2002, 1.91 in 2008 and 2.42 in 2019.
Fees were a problem back in 1999 but they creased to be an issue in 2005 when they were added to income contingent repayments. Other tax rates or indeed disposable income isn’t included in that measure
CPIH figure includes houses, under that £20 today was £10 in 1990, so even lower.
I’m sure (as far as bars go) contactless payment will be preferred more in future. COVID has sped up the process of that. It’s unlikely to see many £50 notes around. There were already a lot of “card only” bars in London and that was pre-COVID.
Also inflation is low and will be low for quite some time so that won’t be a factor.