Covid-19 / 15 March 2021
SBPA reveals devastation to pubs and brewers one year on from first COVID-19 lockdown, reiterates Government must ensure pubs can operate without restrictions as soon as possible One year on from the First Minister ordering the first COVID-19 lockdown, which forced pubs to close, the Scottish Beer & Pub Association has revealed the devastation the nations’ brewers and pubs have faced. The trade association has revealed that 200 pubs are estimated to have been lost forever, 210 million pints in beer sales lost due to a full year of either forced closure, or trading under severe restrictions, and £820 million in trade value wiped out from the sector in beer sales alone. Since the first lockdown in March 2020, pubs and other hospitality businesses have been amongst the hardest hit. They have also faced severe restrictions to their trade during other periods of being “open”, including level restrictions that ultimately forced many to stay shut or open but under conditions that made their trade unviable due to the closing times and other rules. Looking ahead to the First Minister’s expected announcement tomorrow, the SBPA has urged the Scottish Government to give the sector hope by aligning closely to the unlocking plans in England, which indicate that pubs will reopen outdoors from April 12th, followed by indoors from May 17th and with all restrictions lifted by June 21st. Emma McClarkin, Chief Executive of the Scottish Beer & Pub Association, said: “Our sector has been devastated by COVID-19 and the lockdowns. It has been a year to forget for the Scotland’s pubs and bars. “It is estimated that 200 pubs have been lost forever. 210 million pints in beer sales have also been missed, wiping out £820 million in trade value from the sector. “Sadly, we still haven’t seen the full extent of the damage yet and won't do for some time until things really do go back to normal. And by normal, I mean a return to what life was like pre-covid. “Whilst we continue to assess the full damage to our sector, I urge the First Minister to give our businesses the hope that they desperately need by providing a viable route out of lockdown tomorrow. The previously levels were entirely unviable for the majority of hospitality businesses, and they are desperately hoping for a more straight-forward approach to unlocking this time. “We also hope the Scottish Government will look at providing more support for our wet-led community pubs who, although grateful for all the support they received, will not benefit from the VAT cut to food in the same way restaurants will. Local wet-led pubs have been amongst the worst affected by the virus so it's important the Government goes that little bit further for them. “It is becoming all the clearer that the Government must ensure all our pubs are fully re-opened as early as safely possible. This is when their recovery will really start and until then we stand to lose more pubs and community assets.”
Read morePaul Oakley | 08 October 2018
With the nation gripped with ‘football fever’ as Gareth Southgate and the England team rekindled the nation’s love affair with its favourite sport as well as the hottest summer on record for 40 years, breweries and pubs across the nation worked tirelessly to meet the demand of thirsty punters. BBPA predicted that England reaching the semi-finals would boost the beer trade by an extra 40 million pints. However, even the optimists among us wouldn’t have predicted the results for the industry. Perhaps it was the soaring temperatures, or maybe the new trend to throw pints in the air in celebration (and with the number of goals England scored against Panama in the Group stage, this could well be the case), but ‘football fever’ led to an increase in 130 million more pints this Summer (June to August) than the same period the year before according to the BBPA’s Sales Volume Survey of its members. To put this into perspective, that is enough beer to fill 30 Olympic sized swimming pools or half a million bath tubs. Not only is this a significant boost to the beer industry, but the UK economy no doubt benefited as well. BBPA estimates this to be an additional £390 million to GDP, as well as a £71 million contribution in taxes through beer duty, as well as another £37 million in VAT. Speaking to our members highlighted the undoubtable benefits of tournaments such as this. Julian Momen, MD, Carlsberg UK “Taken together, this lovely British summer with England’s creditable performance in the World Cup has been a rare treat; one that’s worked wonders for the beer category. Good for UK brewers, good for stores and good for the great British Pub. But most importantly, good for the beer drinkers across the UK, regular or new, who have been able to enjoy an ice cold lager or maybe a hoppy craft IPA - out in sun, at the BBQ, or watching the footy on the big screen.” Heydon Mizon, Joint Managing Director, McMullen & Sons “The world cup was a tremendous event for our more wet led pubs. Belief in the English team was perhaps initially lacking but as confidence grew so did the positive atmosphere and sales with many sites setting a new sales record for the day. We loved each goal as guests seemed to enjoy dispensing their beer into the air in celebration, which is certainly something we wish to encourage." Tom Davies, Chief Executive, Brakspear “It’s been a summer to remember across the Brakspear estate. Our lovely riverside home town, Henley-on-Thames, has been at its very best in the sunshine, and our many rural pubs with gardens have been packed with thirsty customers enjoying the weather. The success of the England team in the World Cup did take a few pubs by surprise and many who’d not planned to show it changed their minds as the home team kept winning! All in all, these have been ideal trading conditions for the majority of our pubs and we could certainly get used it!” Hearing from pub owners also demonstrated the outstanding benefits of the World Cup and the hot summer for pubs. Paul Williams, the Duke of Wellington, Twyford The Duke of Wellington can only hold around 80 people inside and in previous World Cups this was a barrier. This time round, Paul transformed his pub’s car park into a temporary garden with a large outdoor screen. The total cost for this transformation amounted to £1,900, but after promoting the changes on social media the investment paid off. “Trade was up significantly. On a normal weekday we night take £1,000 but during England games we were hitting £6,000”. Not only did it boost profits on the England games but Paul reported the longer term positive effects of the tournament, particularly that it has significantly helped to market the pub generally as well as introducing to new customers. “We now attract customers from a wider area and continue to use the outside screen when weather permits for Premier League games. We’ve had an overall increase in trade since the World Cup with many new faces enjoying the atmosphere and vibe of our pub.” “We have a great drinks offering and good support from Brakspear too, but we’ve thrived on the events side. Putting experience of that and other businesses we’ve run previously is how we’ve grown trade. It’s the understanding of your community that I think is key to any offering.” Paul is looking forward to benefit from future sporting events such as the next big boxing match in September which will benefit from the outdoor screen area, as well as community sporting events such as hosting events for darts teams, cribbage and their sponsored football team. Simon Chudley, the London Inn, Okehampton When speaking with Simon, the owner of a freehold pub with a niche sports offering, he explained that he was not anticipating the World Cup. Prior to the tournament, he did not do any specific promotions for the tournament as he was already known by locals as the sports pub. Simon installed a 16ft screen in the pub’s function room, doubling the area which customers can fit into, and the impact was outstanding. “The first game was a bit slow, but as the enthusiasm grew with England’s success, our sales took off and the pub filled more and more with each game. Over the month, drinks sales were up 200% on the previous June”. Simon reported that during the England vs. Colombia match, his profits were the same as they would be in a week. Simon discussed the long term effects of the World Cup. “Not only were sales up during the tournament itself, but the hot weather has continued to drive high profits, with a number of new returning customers wanting to drink in the garden. There has also been an influx of people coming to the pub after work to enjoy the weather”. Simon is looking forward to the rest of the year, the new season of football, the Six Nations rugby and England rugby’s international games.
01 October 2018
The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) has today responded to Philip Hammond’s calls for a digital services tax. Brigid Simmonds, Chief Executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, said: “We welcome the Chancellor’s speech today at the Conservative Conference where, in addition to offering flexibility for the apprenticeship scheme, he acknowledged the need to tax more fairly the digital economy, even if that entailed the ‘UK going it alone’. “We have called for a digital economy levy to be introduced by 2020 in our Budget Submission and we would encourage the Chancellor to commit to this timeline. A rebalancing of business taxation that ensures digital companies pay their fair share is essential and we are proposing that the revenue from such a levy should be used specifically to help offset the current business rates burden, which disproportionally impacts the pub sector. “It has been good to see so much support at the conference for Long Live the Local and support for our pubs.”
19 September 2018
The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) has commented on UK inflation rates rising to the highest level in six months, with RPI and CPI rising to 3.5% and 2.7% in August respectively. Commenting on the rise of inflation, BBPA Chief Executive Brigid Simmonds said: “This significant rise in inflation is worrying news for pubs and brewers alike. Beer duty is linked to RPI, which rose by 3.5% in August, meaning pubs and brewers face a steep hike in taxes just like under the dreaded beer duty escalator. As a consequence, Britain’s Brewers could see an increase of over £100 million in tax in the next Budget. The misery for pubs would be compounded by CPI increases in business rates. “£1 in every £3 spent in pubs already goes to the taxman and under the beer duty escalator, which saw sustained increases to beer tax, 5,000 pubs closed and 58,000 jobs were lost. It’s clear that action is needed by the Government to alleviate these cost pressures pubs face, else we risk losing them forever. This is why we are backing the campaign longlivethelocal.pub to call on the Government to cut beer tax and support local pubs.”
19 September 2018
The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) has responded to the publication of the Migration Advisory Committee’s (MAC) report on the impact of EEA migration in the UK. Commenting on the report, BBPA Chief Executive Brigid Simmonds said: “We broadly welcome the MAC report and the evidence it provides that migrant workers play an important role in the UK economy, without having a major effect on the employment of UK workers. Increased productivity is vital to the economy and the MAC report acknowledges this, as does the Government’s Industrial Strategy. With this in mind, we’d urge the Government to support the proposed Tourism Sector Deal and its emphasis on skills, which the BBPA is prepared to back with financial contributions if the Government supports it. “We have previously called for a review of the Tier system and welcome the proposal from the MAC that the Tier 2 visa bracket be expanded to cover a wider range of occupations. However, we have serious concerns about retaining the salary cap of £30,000 as pub chefs, who are very much in short supply within our sector, would in many cases not meet the cap. Nonetheless, the proposal to reduce the qualifications for the Tier 2 visa bracket from RQF6 to RQF3, which would consider the experience offered by pub chefs, rather than just qualifications, is most welcome. “It is good that the MAC report has recommended that the administrative burden of the Tier system be reviewed for SMEs. No small pub could take on the current sponsorship requirements as they stand, let alone the cost and bureaucracy that currently goes with it. “Whilst broadly welcoming the recommendations of this latest MAC report, we still feel that the MAC does not recognise the important role of the hospitality industry in the UK and the serious issues that migration caps will bring to the sector. On average, as many as 24% of workers in pubs are from overseas – rising to as much as 80% in some urban areas – meaning that any cap which does not recognise the deficit in talent will cause hardship for pubs and could ultimately lead to more closures. This is why we continue to call for the extension of the Youth Mobility Scheme, which allows young people up to the age of 30 from a prescribed list of countries to work in the UK for up to two years. Considering some 42% of employees in pubs are under the age of 25, extending the Youth Mobility Scheme to the whole of the EU is most welcome, as has already been proposed in the Chequers Agreement. “We look forward to building on the MAC report in our discussions with the Government, but would urge more emphasis on the requirements for soft skills, which are so vital to the pub sector and contribute to the multi-faceted nature of our society and communities.”
05 September 2018
Commenting on the Scottish Government's Programme for Government 2018-19, entitled "Delivering for Today, Investing for Tomorrow", Brigid Simmonds OBE, CEO of the Scottish Beer & Pub Association, said: “Our industry welcomes the Scottish Government’s Program for Government, particularly the news of further action on non-domestic rates, expanding our food and drink sector, and growing our exports. “Most significantly of all, the current system of rates simply doesn’t work for our sector and this has been recognised by the Scottish Government with the 12.5% annual cap on increases. The legislation announced yesterday will put into law the remaining Barclay recommendations, which includes a break between the completion of capital investment and a rise in business rates. Without doubt business rate increases are a real disincentive for capital investment. We would like to see such legislation replicated across the whole of the UK for the benefit of all pubs. “We also share the Government’s ambitions of growing our fantastic food and drink sectors, and welcome the specific mention of beer within their plans. We also look forward to the new national export plan and will be pushing for a strong focus on our world class brewers, which have huge potential for major export growth. “There are of course concerns for our sector, particularly how a deposit return scheme might interact with our members and become another burdening cost for business. It is imperative that any system is UK-wide, a Scotland-only system would be costly for consumers and unworkable for industry – any inclusion of alcoholic products will also impact on minimum-unit pricing and undermine the ongoing evaluation of this policy.”
08 August 2018
The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) has today published the latest edition of its operating cost guide for tenants and lessees. The data is intended to help those wishing to take on a tenanted or leased pub business to be as well informed as possible about the current costs involved in running a pub. The BBPA’s guide provides valuable information for tenants and lessees on typical operating costs in the pub sector. The guide gives existing tenants and lessees the opportunity to benchmark their own business and compare their own costs against these published industry norms. Updates included in this year’s guide are: Pay-TV costs for all pub models Live music costs for all pub models A town/country model which brings the total number of pub models featured in the guide to nine The guide shows the average cost of running a leased and tenanted pub over a range of pub models based on turnover and business types. It covers a wide range of pubs, from those with little in the way of food sales, to those that are largely food-led, and takes account of the significant variations that exist in the cost base, even within those pubs that are broadly in the same category. As in previous editions, the guide’s input data and sources change each year, so the information should not be used to determine trends from year to year. The guide also makes clear that all pubs are unique and that actual costs incurred will be dependent on the different aims and styles of the business according to the location, the market and the skills of the tenant or lessee. As well as providing average costs, the guide also includes the minimum and maximum operating costs, providing a range of scenarios across different types of business. BBPA Chief Executive Brigid Simmonds OBE said: “Whether you already run a pub or are thinking of taking one on, this new report is a must-read. It includes essential information on the current costs involved in running a Great British pub and can be downloaded – free of charge – from our website.” The full guide can be downloaded from the BBPA website here.