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 more05 December 2017
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05 December 2017
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01 December 2017
The brewing and pub industry has a good record on recycling and should be exempt from any deposit scheme that emerges from a current Government consultation – this is the key message from the British Beer & Pub Association in its response to the Defra call-for-evidence on the issue. The BBPA believes that on current evidence, a universal deposit scheme on all beverage containers would create “another unnecessary pressure for the industry”. With the current Government focus rightly on tackling plastic waste, the response argues that litter and waste is not such an issue with more typical beer and pub industry glass and aluminium cans, both of which are widely recycled and make up a very small proportion of litter. The current Packaging Return Note (PRN) system has been successful in improving recycling rates and the associated infrastructure required. The BBPA also operates SUSTAIN, its own, not-for-profit packaging waste compliance scheme specifically for the drinks industry and has worked with the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and Incpen to reduce overall waste and packaging in the hospitality sector. The BBPA signed up to the voluntary agreement, the Courtauld Commitment 2025, and is keen to continue working with WRAP to reduce waste in this sector. BBPA Chief Executive Brigid Simonds comments: “It is right that the Government should focus on plastic waste from on-the-go consumption. The beer and pub industry contributes a significant amount to the current recycling infrastructure through the PRN system, ensuring a high rate of recycling of glass bottles and cans. With 93% of beer sales in pubs from reusable kegs and casks this also displaces billions of individual containers in each year. A deposit scheme would impose new costs on pubs, which already face big financial pressures. It is important therefore that pubs are exempt from any deposit scheme.”
01 December 2017
On Wednesday this week it was announced by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) that, from April 2018 food businesses in the UK will be required to put in place practical steps to manage acrylamide within their food safety management systems under new EU legislation. The new legislation will establish best practice, mitigation measures and benchmark levels for the reduction of the presence of acrylamide in food. Under the new Regulation, UK Food Business Operators (FBOs), including pubs serving food, will be required to put in place simple, practical steps to manage acrylamide formation as part of their existing food safety management systems. This will ensure that acrylamide levels are as low as reasonably achievable in their food. The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) has been working closely and proactively with the Food Standards Agency, Food Standards Scotland, British Hospitality Association and other trade bodies to develop new nationwide, catering industry guidance on the control of acrylamide. The guidance, which the BBPA has worked to ensure is not overly burdensome to pub businesses, is being developed for FBOs to comply with incoming new, European legislation (EU) 2017/2158. From April 2018 Food Business Operators will be expected to demonstrate: • Awareness of acrylamide as a potential food safety hazard and have a general understanding of how acrylamide is formed in the food they produce • How they have taken steps to mitigate acrylamide formation in the food they produce, adopting the relevant measures as part of their food safety management procedures • Where appropriate, that they have undertaken representative sampling and analysis to monitor the levels of acrylamide in their products as part of their assessment of the mitigation measures • Appropriate records of the mitigation measures undertaken, together with sampling plans and results of any testing The extent of measures being introduced are intended to be proportionate to the nature and size of the business and vary based on whether they are independent or local, supplying directly to consumers or into local retail or those who are larger, centrally controlled and supplied chains. Whilst the legislation includes a full list of food products, for pubs the new legislation applies to those outlets who supply the following as part of their food offer: • French fries, other cut (deep fried) products and sliced potato crisps from fresh potatoes • Bread • Fine bakery wares: cookies, biscuits, rusks, cereal bars, scones, cornets, wafers, crumpets and gingerbread, as well as crackers, crisp breads and bread substitutes Once published, use of the catering industry guidance is included under the mitigation measures relevant to food businesses within the legislation. The application of the relevant acrylamide mitigation measures is not intended to lead to any significant changes in the quality and properties of foods. Also included within the Regulation are benchmark levels (BMLs) intended to be used as generic performance indicators for the food categories. These are not maximum limits and are not intended to be used for enforcement purposes. BMLs are to be used by FBOs to gauge the success of the mitigation measures. The BBPA is at the forefront of representation of food safety and compliance for the British beer and pub industries. BBPA Chief Executive Brigid Simmonds comments: “The BBPA is pleased to have been able to work closely with the FSA, and other bodies including the BHA to develop this new catering industry guidance and ensure that the measures are not onerous for small businesses in particular, for pubs. This is a clear example of how co-operation between agencies and trade bodies can bring about effective measures to comply with regulation”.
29 November 2017
BBPA Chief Executive Brigid Simmonds: “I welcome the fact that the draft plan recognises the great contribution that pubs make to the economy and social life of London. “In particular, the agent-of-change proposal is one that we have long argued for, and would ensure that pubs are not threatened by new housing developments through complaints about noise from pubs which have been trading for hundreds of years. “We will certainly be responding to the consultation as there are also some aspects that will need careful consideration, including a proposal around the need to market a pub for a specific period of time before any change of use and how this might work in practice.”
28 November 2017
Three Government Ministers joined with brewing industry campaigners at a thank you party in Fuller’s Red Lion pub in Westminster last night, to mark the freeze in beer duty in the Budget. Andrew Jones, Exchequer Secretary with responsibility for alcohol taxation, Pubs Minister Jake Berry and Marcus Jones, Local Government Minister, were hosted by BBPA Chief Executive Brigid Simmonds and other industry campaigners. Mike Wood MP, who led the backbench campaign as Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Beer Group, and former Chairman Andrew Griffiths also joined the celebrations. Brigid Simmonds, BBPA Chief Executive comments: “It was great to thank Government ministers for supporting our industry. The beer duty freeze will make a real difference, business rates help went much further than expected and it shows the Government understands the importance of brewing and pubs, both to their local communities and the wider economy.”