Marston's brewing chief urges more Government support
The boss of the Marston's brewing arm says the beer industry needs urgent Budget support or pubs will simply not reopen.
Paul Davies says Chancellor Rishi Sunak must address the crisis in hospitality if he is to avoid a major collapse of the industry.
The chief executive of the West Midlands-based Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company said: "The reality is, for many brewers, including us, the overnight loss of sales from closing pubs has had a devastating impact.
"This extends to the products we brew, such as cask; the people we employee, particularly those in roles dedicated to serving on-trade customers; and to our wide and varied supply chain, from the raw ingredients we use to brew our beers, through to packaging and logistics.
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"This has in no way been balanced by any different sets of gains brewers have seen with off-trade sales.
"Over the past 12 months, the once vibrant and buzzing hospitality sector has borne a disproportionate burden in the economic handling of the pandemic. And what’s worse, there’s no solid evidence as to why this is the case. "
Mr Davies, who heads the business from the company's headquarters in Wolverhampton, said the brewing industry wanted to see measures in the Chancellor’s Budget on Wednesday to protect the future of the brewing, pub and hospitality industries.
Marston's pubs arm runs scores of pubs across the West Midlands, Shropshire and Staffordshire. And Mr Davies warned that a signalled five per cent cut in beer duty for the coming year and business rates holiday for pubs being extended again would not be enough alone to save pubs and the brewing sector.
Vital
He said: "We are calling on the Chancellor to implement an extension of the current reduced VAT rate in place for food and soft drinks to be applied to all drinks, specifically beer.
"This, in addition to bringing forward proposals in the Alcohol Duty Review which will rebalance the duty regime towards lower-strength products, is what is needed to support brewing and pubs as vital domestic industries. "
Mr Davies said that the Covid pandemic had been the biggest crisis ever to hit the beer and pubs industry and the difficulties of the past 12 months showed just how much the brewing industry is reliant on pubs, and pubs on brewers.
"The speedy vaccine roll out – which we applaud the Government for – has given a glimmer of hope that we will all soon be able to go ‘back to normal’.
"Except, ‘normal’ is no longer enough. While the sector is grateful for previous support, it’s now time to act to avoid irreversible damages inflicted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
"The Government needs to demonstrate that the roadmap out of this pandemic provides timely, tangible support to every business in the hospitality sector and, crucially, supports the industry for the long term.
"This will make a significant difference to brewers and pubs in all regions of the UK – supporting jobs, local economies and the heart of the Great British beer and pub culture," added Mr Davies.
