MPs unveil ten-point plan to unlock economic power of Britain’s pubs and breweries: The All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group (APPBG) is calling for bold reform to the pub and brewing sectors and has set out ten recommendations for the government to unlock the sector’s potential. Launching today (Monday, 20 October), the APPBG’s report, How Brewing and Pubs Can Help Drive Economic Growth, draws on evidence from 29 brewers, operators, trade bodies and charities. It highlights how, despite contributing £34.3bn to the UK economy and supporting over a million jobs, pubs and breweries are overtaxed and undervalued. The report said the UK’s pub and brewing sector is a major economic force, with 1,700 breweries and 45,000 pubs operating in every Parliamentary constituency and, together, generating £18bn in annual tax revenue. In order to turbocharge investment and growth in the sector, the cross-party group of MPs has made ten recommendations. These include meaningful business rates reform in the form of a 20p reduction in the small business multiplier and a 20p reduction on the standard multiplier – with better transition relief to avoid sharp shocks and enable businesses to plan. It also calls for the removal or reduction of employer national insurance contributions (NICs), including removing NICs for the first year of employing someone under 25 or the introduction of a new employer band from £5,000 to £9,100 at 5%, plus a 12-month NICs holiday for employing those who have been out of the labour market for a year. Any future increases to the national minimum wage should also be sustainable and affordable, while applying the living wage to those aged 18 and over should be phased in over at least five years, the report recommends. It goes on to say that the government must find a solution to the extended producer responsibility (EPR) issue of double counting for pubs and to ensure the Employment Bill doesn’t penalise the sector for its inherent flexibility and seasonality. A reform to apprenticeships and investment in employment and skills is also called for, along with a review of the impact of the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme. Further key asks are to reduce beer duty by a minimum of 5% and increase the draught beer differential to 20%, alongside a reduced rate of VAT on sales of food and drink. The all-party group also wants to see the definition of alcohol-free beers set at 0.5%, aligning with European norms, and for an extension of capital allowances to include pub furniture and kitchen or cellar equipment, with double capital allowances for any project that supports net zero. Finally, it has called for new terms of reference for the Hospitality Sector Council strategy, to ensure early-stage discussion with all relevant government departments as well as full integration with its growth, tourism, high street and small business strategies. APPBG chair, Tonia Antoniazzi MP, said: “We set out to gain an overview of why brewing, pubs and the wider hospitality sector was left out of the government’s Industrial Strategy, how the current pressures stack up for brewers and pubs, and what might be needed to help the sector not just thrive but drive economic growth in all our local communities across the UK. What this report makes clear is that this critical sector has been overlooked and overburdened with tax, resulting in missed opportunities for growth and investment to the detriment of the whole UK economy.Our recommendations provide a platform for creating the right fiscal and regulatory environment to enable the brewing and pub sector to deliver economic growth very quickly, benefitting local communities, policy makers and government.”

 

Hopback Brewery founder – ‘very disappointing that our pre-tax loss increased’: John Gilbert, founder of brewer and retailer Hopback Brewery, has said it was “very disappointing” that the company’s pre-tax loss increased in 2024. The company’s pre-tax profit widened from £63,249 in 2023 to £124,826 in the year to 30 September 2024. Its turnover increased from £2,790,204 to £2,918,995. Of this, £1,451,547 came from pub sales (2023: £1,391,570) and £1,467,448 from brewery sales (2023: £1,398,634). Further analysis shows that all the revenue came from the UK compared to £2,780,275 from the UK and £9,929 from the EC in 2023. Gilbert said: “It is very disappointing that our pre-tax loss increased this year but we did decide that investment in the estate and brewery would be the best strategy to deal with the fact that our turnover was not covering our overheads. To this end, we finally acquired The Albion in Winchester, reinvesting the proceeds of sale of The Harp but in a pub in our core trading area. We were also successful in finding a suitable tenant for The Waterloo, which was not trading for part of the last financial year but is now not only open but contributing well to our sales. At the close of the financial year, neither The Duck in Laverstock nor The Albion were trading, whereas they are both open in the first quarter of the present financial year.”