Julian Supports Small Breweries
June 8, 2020
Julian is pleased to support Ben Everitt MP’s letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak MP to call for further support for small independent breweries.
Sadly, the Covid-19 crisis represents an unprecedented threat to our small independent breweries, the craft beer industry and the local jobs they support. With the closure of pubs, bars and restaurants in March, small breweries lost 80% of their business overnight.
While it is welcome that the Government has allowed those breweries with the correct licences to remain open for takeaways and deliveries (if they wish to do so) these small scale sales are no match for the loss of revenue from the closure of pubs as most small breweries have very limited access to supermarkets. It is now a critical time for the brewing industry and our small breweries need assistance to survive.
With reports confirming that if current social distancing measures remain in place 1 in 4 pubs would not be able to reopen (this goes down to 1 in 10 if social distancing is reduced to 1m), breweries need urgent support as it will be a while before they can expect a return to business as usual.
Julian and his colleagues have asked the Government to:
- Halve Beer Duty bills
- Allow 60 days for Beer Duty to be paid
- Reform Small Breweries’ Relief
- Support a secured 30-day payment term from customers
It is our hope that these measures, along with the financial support currently available to businesses, will give a direct injection of cashflow into the brewery sector to help protect the thousands of jobs in brewing and the supply chain.
