The pub and beer industry now has an “open door” with the “very supportive” Chancellor George Osborne, who was today presented with a number of suggestions about how the Government can help the trade.
That’s according to British Beer & Pub Association director of communications David Wilson, who was one of several industry figures at a roundtable meeting with Osborne at Marston’s Brewery.
Wilson said that during the meeting, the sector agreed to put together a package of measures to show how the recent beer duty reduction is being used by the industry to stimulate growth in the economy and create jobs.
He said there was no specific timetable for doing so and “no pressure” was placed on the trade. “There was no sense of, ‘I’ve done this, now you tell me what you are going to do in return’,” said Wilson.
The plan is to go to back to the Treasury with figures at a later date.
There were calls for more regular meetings with the industry, and for the sector to be viewed as a ‘barometer’ of consumer confidence.
Wilson called the meeting, which lasted about 20 minutes, “very constructive”.
Asked if the industry has the ear of the Chancellor like never before, Wilson replied: “Absolutely”.
“We’ve got an open door now, a very supportive Chancellor. The onus on us is to show we’ve stayed united and played our part in economic growth.”
He said there was a “broad range of responses” to the question of what more the Government can do to help the industry.
Spirit Pub Company chief executive Mike Tye stressed that the industry has been making great progress with apprenticeships. He asked if the Government would allow the industry to take on more apprentices, and called for the complexity of the apprenticeship system to be reduced.
Beds & Bars managing director Keith Knowles, who outlined how the Perceptions Group aims to get 15,000 more young people employed in the industry, called for pressure to be placed on councils to make them more amenable to operators; for example, by easing planning restrictions.
Keith Bott, managing director of Titanic Brewery and chairman of the Society of Independent Brewers, raised the issue of difficulties that companies in the sector face accessing finance.
Osborne suggested that banks might see the sector as too ‘circular’ – unreliable when economic conditions are difficult.
Punch Taverns executive chairman Stephen Billingham said there was a risk that the proposed statutory code for tenanted pub operators risked taking equity out of the pub sector and could lead to closures.
Paul Wells, executive chairman of Charles Wells, asked for a review of Progressive Beer Duty, the system of tax breaks for smaller brewers, that he said can be a barrier to growth.
Others at the meeting included Marston’s chief executive Ralph Findlay, Stonegate chief executive Toby Smith, Yummy Pub Company director Anthony Pender, Molson Coors director of communications Nick Lakin, Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers strategic affairs director Kate Nicholls, and All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group chairman Andrew Griffiths.
