It’s one year since the first covid-19 lockdown started and many brewers have been watching their businesses and beers go down the drain.
Beer flowing away at Box Steam Brewery
Today, at 1pm, breweries across the country staged a protest at the lack of support for their businesses, by pouring spoiled beer down the drain. Over the past year, breweries have poured away more than six million pints.
Their message today is clear: the chancellor should save local breweries by introducing a Brewers Support Fund similar to what’s been seen in Scotland, which provides direct grants of up to £30,000 per small brewery.
James Calder, Chief Executive of SIBA, which has organised today’s small brewers’ protest, said: “Small breweries are the lifeblood of our communities and have seen their businesses and livelihoods going down the drain because of the covid pandemic and the closure of pubs. Today they are reminding the Chancellor what is at stake and what we’ll lose without direct support from the government.
“The Scottish government has introduced direct grants through the Brewers Support Fund and the chancellor should extend this to include all brewers.”
The issue
Beer from independent brewers is the lifeblood of the British pub industry, with around 80% of the beer made by small producers being sold in our pubs.
However, because of covid, small breweries have brewed 200 million fewer pints of craft beer compared to 2019, representing ten years of lost growth for the sector. They have also poured away six million pints of beer which could not be sold because of the closure of pubs.
While the wider hospitality sector has had access to direct grants and business rates holidays, small brewers have had no direct funding. Nor have they received compensation for the millions of pints they had to pour away. Brewers have been left to the mercy of a postcode lottery of discretionary grants.
In Scotland, the government has introduced a Brewers Support Fund, providing direct grants to small breweries of up to £30,000 per brewery depending on their size. Small brewers believe the chancellor should extend this scheme to include brewers in the rest of the UK.
