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 more08 February 2018
BBPA Chief Executive Brigid Simmonds comments: “Among alcoholic drinks beer is already the lowest-strength option available. Notwithstanding this, in recent years brewers have worked hard to remove 1.3 billion units of alcohol from the market through producing low or no strength options and reducing the strength of existing products. “Existing rules around advertising mean you cannot market alcoholic drinks to consumers based on their relative low ABV compared to stronger ones. We are seeking changes to these rules set through the Advertising Standards Agency and have been for a number of years. Moreover, current labelling regulations further restrict the ability to market lower strength products. “The findings of this study also run counter to recent research commissioned by Drinkaware, which found that in 2017 a quarter of those who drink alcohol chose an alcoholic drink of lower strength when attempting to reduce their overall consumption of alcohol.”
08 February 2018
Celebrations are in order for two of the UK’s best pub chefs – Amy Houghton of The Shoulder of Mutton in Hebden Bridge, nominated by Craig Whittaker MP and Kevin MacLean of The Rat Inn, Hexham, nominated by Guy Opperman MP. The pair took the spotlight last night (7th February), as they were crowned winners at the Parliamentary Pub Chef of the Year Awards, held at the House of Commons. Run by the British Beer & Pub Association and the All Party Parliamentary Beer Group, in partnership with Nestlé Professional, the event was a huge success with over 80 selected attendees from the education, media and pub industry including celebrity chef and judge, Paul Merrett. Over 130 nominations were received from MPs around the country who selected a pub chef from within their constituency for the awards. The competition was intense, making for an onerous task of whittling the nominees down to four finalists in each of the two categories. A cook-off was staged in January where each of the finalists had the opportunity to demonstrate their creativity and flair in presenting a dish to the select panel of judges before an interview with the judges. The tension has been mounting in the run-up to the results. First up was Young Pub Chef winner, 28 year old Amy Houghton nominated by Craig Whittaker MP (Calder Valley) for her passion and skill at the Shoulder of Mutton in Hebden Bridge, presented by Mike Wood MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Beer Group. She was followed by the Pub Chef category winner, which went to Kevin MacLean, who was nominated by Guy Opperman MP (Hexham) for his chef skills at The Rat Inn, Anick. In the cook-off, which took place at the bespoke culinary training venue, Hospitality House, in London, Amy wowed the judges with a delicious venison dish, while Kevin cooked brill with razor clams, perfectly seasoned and well balanced. Amy said: “I’m in shock, I really am. I was happy with my dish, but I didn’t think for a minute that I’d won. I’m my own biggest critic and it was a tough competition, the standard was really high. I chose to do venison for the cook-off because I love it, it’s probably one of my favourite meats. The town I live in is really small, so I went for things that I knew I could source locally, that would complement the dish well. "Everyone was really rooting for me back in the pub, they were actually live streaming the awards ceremony tonight in front of the customers so they saw that I’d won at the same time I found out! Winning has given me more confidence in myself and I would really like to thank my MP Craig Whittaker for nominating me. Coming to the House of Commons tonight has been amazing, but so surreal, I feel as if I’m dreaming – I’ll have to open the box and look at the award in the morning to remember that this really did happen!" Kevin said: “It’s an honour to win and I would personally like to thank Guy Opperman for nominating me in the first place. Hopefully the profile of this competition will keep rising and rising and bring more chefs into the industry, which in turn will raise the awareness of the great British pub and all the good food and great work all these people across the country are doing. It is a great experience to be here at the House of Commons and part of such a huge event, winning really topped it all off!” Brigid Simmonds, Chief Executive, British Beer & Pub Association: “The standard of cooking on display in this year’s competition really was outstanding, all of the finalists should feel very proud of what they have achieved. “Particular congratulations must go of course to the winners, Kevin and Amy, who displayed such flair and passion for their food. Pubs are increasingly home to some of the best British chefs which is very exciting for the future of our sector.” Mike Wood, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Beer Group said: “It was great to see even more MPs engaging with their local pubs and nominating some fantastic chefs for this year’s competition. The level of ability shown throughout the contest has been hugely impressive. Amy and Kevin can be tremendously proud of their achievement.” Charlotte Ponti, Savoury Foods Manager at Nestlé Professional UK added: “This year’s standards have been really impressive. Not only the participants were creative and technically excellent, but they also demonstrated strong work ethic and drive. It is exciting to see that there are such great talents in pubs and promising of a bright future. All the participants can be really proud of what they achieved and we wish them lots of success.”
08 February 2018
Responding to the Press Release by Scottish Labour, the Scottish Beer and Pub Association have called for a rethink, saying it would cost jobs, investment and opportunities, while punishing tied-pubs with an expensive levy to meet the costs of the proposal. Commenting, Scottish Beer & Pub Association CEO Brigid Simmonds OBE said: "This proposed bill seeks to replicate legislation in England & Wales which is completely unsuitable and financially unfeasible for Scotland, seeking a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. “Only 17% of pubs are under a leased and tenanted arrangement here in Scotland, compared to 40% across the rest of the UK. It simply doesn’t work to compare like-for-like in this case, especially considering the financial burden of this costly legislation would be met by a levy on a tiny minority of pubs. Furthermore, there is already in place a system of self-regulation in Scotland which safeguards tenants’ rights and came into force less than two years ago. “Last year a comprehensive independent report by the Scottish Government found that no part of the pub sector in Scotland was unfairly disadvantaged over another. Any reform should be evidence-based, and evidence to back these proposed changes is noticeably absent. If the Bill is passed, all the evidence shows that it will cost jobs, hurt small business owners, reduce entrepreneurship opportunities and see Scotland’s pubs lose-out on much needed investment. “We are strongly urging Neil Bibby to rethink this proposal and instead focus on helping to secure meaningful support for all 4,900 pubs in Scotland, not just the 17 per cent which the current bill is unfairly aimed at. “We believe further dialogue between trade bodies, government and other interested parties is now needed. We look forward to the forthcoming stakeholder meeting convened by the Scottish Government Minister to discuss these bill proposals in the round with other areas of real interest and concern to the industry at this time.” A real Scottish pub success story is Kained Holdings, started by three friends just over a decade ago – Scott Arnot, Graham Suttle & Mo Clark. In 2007, they opened Lebowskis in Finnieston with investment from a pub company. A decade later, they now employ over 170 staff across nine bars and restaurants. They say this proposal would have a damaging impact for future investment and opportunities in the industry. Commenting on the proposal, Scott Arnot of Kained Holdings said: “When Graham, Mo and I opened Lebowskis in 2007, it was with the help of a pub company and beer-tie agreement. We were given an opportunity to try something new and we know that the investment we received could not have been replicated from other sources. “The beer-tie arrangement has afforded myself and my partners opportunities to grow our business, support local communities and employ over 170 people. We do realise that the model is not perfect. However, this bill, while perhaps well-intended, is a threat to innovation and investment. It will see fewer opportunities for entrepreneurs and innovation in our Industry, and ultimately fewer Scottish success stories in the licenced trade.”
07 February 2018
• Beer sales up 0.7 per cent in 2017 (an extra fifty-five million pints) • Positive end to year for beer sales supported by the freeze in the Budget in November • On-trade sales still fall by 2.4 per cent in 2017 • Quarterly ‘Beer Barometer’ from the British Beer & Pub Association Sales of British beer rose by 0.7 per cent in 2017, with a positive end to the year supported with a welcome freeze in beer duty in the November Budget. This increase in sales means that fifty-five million more pints of beer were sold in 2017, compared with the previous year. Whilst there has been an increase in overall beer sales, sales in pubs and bars still fell by 2.4 per cent, the biggest drop since 2013. This equates to nearly 88 million fewer pints sold in pubs than the previous year. This is due to a combination of factors including a 3.9% duty increase in March, higher operating costs for pubs including business rates increases and sharply rising employment costs, as well as fragile consumer confidence. Beer sales have been largely stable over the past three years after several years of sharp decline. This trend has been greatly helped by three, one penny cuts in beer duty from 2013-2015, and a duty freeze in 2016. Prior to 2013, there was a slump of 14 per cent in sales under the controversial beer duty escalator, when a tax hike of 42 per cent from 2008-13 was accompanied by 58,000 job losses and 7,000 pub closures. BBPA Chief Executive Brigid Simmonds comments: “Whilst it is encouraging to see beer sales rise slightly in 2017, it is still hugely concerning to see on-trade sales fall for the seventeenth year in a row. This shows just how important the decision to freeze beer duty in the Autumn Budget was, particularly after an inflation-busting 3.9 per cent rise in the Spring Budget. Cutting beer duty is hugely important to community pubs where on average seventy percent of alcohol sold is beer. “The Autumn Budget helped safeguard jobs, pubs and investment in a very British manufacturing industry and it is essential that the Government continues to support beer and pubs throughout 2018. Further support on duty and tackling the disproportionate rates bill paid by pubs remain top priorities for us.” UK Quarterly Beer Barometer Q4 2017
Brigid Simmonds | 06 February 2018
I was delighted when Drinkaware invited me to go to watch Derby County against Brentford, not least because I had not visited Pride Park, but also to see in action the activities of DrinkAware as a preferred partner for the football club and exactly how this worked. With my background at Leicester City, I have always understood and been a strong supporter of outreach offered by football club community teams; there is nothing more obvious than harnessing the pride and interest of everyone in a city who loves football and look to change behaviour. It turns out that Derby has a higher rate of inactivity than many other cities in the UK and lower mortality rates too; an obvious target for action to improve activity, reduce weight and as ever in Drinkaware terms, ‘drink a little less and feel a lot better’. I have always believed that sport reflects and unites communities and those who watch comes from all walks of life. I was helped to find by way from the station to the stadium by a young man who was a steward. He was looking to join the army but his recruitment had been delayed, so in freezing temperatures and rain he turned up for every home fixture and when he was not at Derby he travelled to other clubs to volunteer his services. Thus the power of sport. Derby County Community Trust receives funds from Sport England to encourage greater physical activity. They take on those who are referred to them by doctors, often recovering from heart and injury problems, in need of weight loss and looking for social interaction. These are often men over 45, from lower income groups, but keen to engage with sport and adopt lifestyle change. They run walking football competitions, which we had hoped to see at half time on the pitch, (with the players wearing Drinkaware vests), but it was just too wet, but it was great to see the Drinkaware logo on the advertising hoardings round the ground and to meet the local Police and Crime Commissioner; Hardya Dhindsa who is keen to meet and work with the industry. Derby is one of the 22 Local Authority Alcohol Action Areas. They are working with the LAAA introducing Drinkaware Crew to reduce harm to young adults and training venue staff in the city to recognise vulnerability and the risks associated with heavy drinking. At the Game, Drinkaware launched ‘Game Changer’, volunteers moved amongst the fans and were asked to choose from four ‘game changing’ moments from Derby’s footballing history. It is also on the Derby County website. There is also an invite to visit Drinkaware.com and may over time allow them to identify specific Derby wards where action is most needed. Everyone at the game were given hand warmers, sponsored by Marstons (who also supply beer to the ground), it was a great initiative; fun, but with some important messaging. And not to forget the football, Derby won 3 – 0. It did not help Brentford that a player was sent off after 20 minutes! So hopefully some happy fans who will have an incentive to look at their lifestyle and how it might be improved. Thank you Drinkaware; a really good initiative which all of us should support.
05 February 2018
Hospitality industry employers are integral contributors to the UK jobs market and are once again teaming up with Job Centres, industry bodies and charities to raise awareness of the sector as a great place to work – all part of an annual month-long campaign ‘Hospitality Works’ from the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) starting on 7 February 2018. For the second year running Fred Sirieix, General Manager at Galvin at Windows in London’s Park Lane and star of Channel 4’s ‘First Dates’, has once again agreed to be the face of the campaign saying, “I’m proud to be supporting Hospitality Works for a second year. The hospitality industry has a fantastic range of roles available, to suit any aspiration or career goal, so it’s important you know what’s available. If you are an employer, you can contribute to Hospitality Works by offering taster-days, work experience placements and by broadcasting your organisation as a fun and rewarding place to work. If you’re a job seeker, use this month to discover hospitality as a career. Your local Job Centre will have plenty of information about the different routes into the industry, so make sure you enquire about jobs in hospitality. Finally, make sure to keep track of the Hospitality Works hashtag – #JobsWithASmile!” Some of the industry’s biggest names including, Costa, McDonald’s and Wagamama will be taking part. There are a number of activities and ways in which businesses are getting involved, including job offers and apprenticeships, taster sessions and raising awareness of what it’s like to work in the industry and the career development opportunities available within the hospitality sector. Sue Davies, Head of People at Bourne Leisure said, “Bourne Leisure embraces the Hospitality Works campaign as a key enabler to promote the brilliant career opportunities and raise awareness of the hospitality sector.” Edinburgh-based Danielle Ramsay, Group Recruitment Manager from Apex Hotels said, “Apex Hotels were part of the Hospitality Works in 2017 and are delighted to be part of it again this year. It was a great opportunity to highlight and promote the various career opportunities within the industry and within Apex Hotels, and to showcase hospitality as an excellent career choice.” The Hospitality Works initiative has created over 8,000 work placements since it began in 2015 and this year is expected to be bigger than ever, with employers offering ‘taster days,’ events and talks from industry experts at over 600 Job Centres and thousands of work placements created. The Hospitality Works campaign comes at a time when unemployment is continuing at a record low level of 4.3%, with the threat of even greater skills shortages for the hospitality industry looming due to uncertainty surrounding the Government’s immigration policy. Anyone wishing to follow and help promote the campaign should look out for #JobsWithaSmile.