THE FINAL FOUR
The four pubs in the last round of CAMRA’s National Pub of the Year competition are:
- Station House, Durham
- Horse & Jockey, Stapleford
- King’s Head, Norwich
- Tamworth Tap, Tamworth
The Station House was opened by CAMRA members in 2015, the Horse & Jockey and the King’s Head are traditional pubs, while the Tamworth Tap is the brewery tap for the Tamworth Brewing Company. Each of them will receive an award in their own right for getting to this stage and the result will be announced in January, hopefully in time to be featured in our next edition.
ALCOHOL DUTY REVIEW
This process started in 2021. Having said that the announcement as regards implementing the agreed changes had been put back to the autumn, the Government then decided, in October, to extend the consultation period until 18 November. This now makes the implementation of any changes highly unlikely before the New Year. This is disappointing because CAMRA sees these changes as a vital part of the financial support urgently needed by our pubs and breweries.
UP FOR THE CUP
I heard a report that supporters out in Qatar are being charged over £12 for a half-litre of Bud. For those who remained at home and are not boycotting the event (as I acknowledge many are), the debate was whether to watch at home or down the pub. I received an e-mail from an advertising agency containing a survey which gave the price of two hours of lighting, heating and other costs to watch the game at home as £6.17. Adding the cost of beer (say two cans at £2.00) brings this to around £10.00. If you can find a pub selling beer below £5.00 a pint then you are better off there. It is also healthier to be in a social setting, irrespective of whether the results are good or bad.
Lots of fans going to the pub would, of course, help the trade considerably at this difficult time. A good World Cup followed by a similar Christmas and New Year might be the saving of a number of pubs.
THE PRICE OF BEER
Firstly, I am using this as an example and am not particularly singling out Heineken for criticism. Most of the following will apply to other pub owning companies.
In mid-November, having already increased prices twice this year, Heineken announced further price increases to take effect on 16 January. The coming increase will be 15.8%, which equates to 80p per £5 worth of beer. They explained that they were facing ‘unprecedented cost increases on a number of critical inputs used to make and distribute beer and cider’, adding, “This is predominantly driven by the significant rise in energy prices, which is also having a dramatic impact on the costs of other goods, including glass, aluminium and malted barley.” I don’t think that anyone would dispute this but is the answer simply to increase trade prices? Although they say that ‘we are continually looking at ways to mitigate cost volatility and throughout the year we have taken a number of steps to drive greater efficiencies’, 15.8% is still a massive increase. It is especially unfair to those landlords tied to Heineken owned Star Pubs & Bars outlets who have no choice but to pass the increase on to their customers, thus, in many cases, risking further damage to their own businesses. I know that the company has certain responsibilities to its shareholders but is there no thought of taking a long term view and absorbing these costs for a year or so to help pubs survive? After all, in the first three months of 2022 alone, Heineken reported a net profit of €417 million (equivalent to £1,456 million per annum).
At the same time, from February, Heineken are reducing the strength of Foster’s from 4% ABV to 3.7%. They say that this is an acknowledgement of ‘consumer trends towards lower strength products’ and that it is ‘in line with our commitment to promote moderate consumption among alcohol drinkers’. It also means that those drinkers will be paying more for less.
I should acknowledge that the document on which these comments are based contains the wording ‘The contents of this letter are confidential between Heineken UK and you and it is not for onward distribution’. One recipient however chose to post it on social media and so I have taken it as then being in the public domain. The letter ends, ‘I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support in these extremely difficult times’. I’ll leave it to readers to decide whether this is working both ways.
PUBS CODE UPDATE
Readers may remember that, back in July, the Parliamentary Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) committee held a meeting at which they discussed the usefulness of the statutory Pubs Code. Views of how well the code was operating and the role played by the Pubs Code Adjudicator were somewhat polarised, with tenants’ representatives calling it a ‘wholesale failure’ and one pub owning business chief executive maintaining that, through the code, his company ‘supported free-of-tied tenants better than elsewhere in the commercial world’.
Subsequently, in September, following its own survey of tied tenants, CAMRA called for a fundamental changes to the code. Its research found that most tenants felt that the principles on which the code is based, their being treated fairly and lawfully and their being no worse off than a free-of-tie tenant, were not the reality of the situation. CAMRA called for the code to be extended to include more types of tenancies, to give licensees the right to serve a guest beer and to tackle the problem of dilapidations (repairs assessed at the end of leases). It also wants the code to require pub companies to publish information about rent assessments.
Nick Boley, CAMRA’s campaigns director, said, “As consumers, it is important to us that tied tenants can make a long-term success of their pubs and shape the unique character of their businesses to become an integral part of their community. This isn’t possible without a balanced relationship between licensees and pub companies and CAMRA is keen to see the review of the Pubs Code in England and Wales used to its full potential. It’s vital that the Pubs Code works as originally intended by parliament so that tied tenants are guaranteed fair and lawful dealing and that they are no worse off than free of tie tenants, particularly given the challenges currently faced by the whole pub trade. I hope that government takes this opportunity to make substantive changes to the Code and create a fairer system that works for licensees and consumers, as well as pub companies.”
Shortly after, on 1 August, the Pubs Code Adjudicator (PCA) published a strategy for delivering its priorities over the next three years. This said that the PCA will work with its arbitration services partner, the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, to deliver a quality arbitration service. The PCA, Fiona Dickie, explained, “I am pleased to introduce the PCA’s first ever strategy at a time of significant challenge for the industry. I am committed to achieving positive change for tied tenants and we are already seeing progress. We can achieve even more by collaborating with others and this will underpin the PCA’s work over the coming year.”
Footnote: the PCA reports to whichever of the junior ministers in the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy department is responsible for small businesses. These duties are currently unallocated.
LATE NIGHT LEVY
Nottingham City Council have decided to end their LNL scheme, in force since 2014, with effect from 1 November. They took the view that their licensing policy could adequately deal with issues such as late night opening and anti-social behaviour. They also appreciated that the fees, up to £4,449 per annum, were a burden on premises operators.
COMMUNITY RIGHT TO BUY
The Shadow Levelling Up Secretary, Lisa Nandy, has said a Labour government would introduce a community right to buy for local assets in England. This would provide for a community group putting in a genuine market-level bid to be granted first refusal on the purchase of any ACV listed site that came up for sale. The idea was put forward in a speech made in Darlington on 19 July. CAMRA believes that this could be a useful measure. National Chairman, Nik Antona, commented, “Giving communities in England a right in law to have first refusal on buying privately-owned community assets would be a game changer for people who want to save and take over the running of their local. Pubs are more than just businesses – they play a crucial role in building and maintaining cohesive communities. Where they are under threat of closure, conversion or demolition it is right that people are given first refusal on buying it, so they have a fighting chance to save their local as a community-owned pub. Until the law is changed to provide for a community right to buy assets of value, a dedicated pub-saving fund and support scheme is needed from the government to make sure local people are fully supported to save their pub if it is under threat.”
CHANGE AT SIBA
James Calder stepped down as chief executive of the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) with effect from 1 August. Mr Calder, who was promoted from head of public affairs and communications, succeeded Mike Benner in 2019. He said, “It has been an immense privilege to lead SIBA through the most difficult period in its history. I am especially proud and grateful to the team I have led. I am sad to be leaving SIBA but I am also proud of what we have achieved. I wish SIBA, its members and all independent breweries across the UK well.”
THE WORLD OF BEER DRINKING
The Drinks Business website recently published a survey listing countries by consumption of beer per head of population in 2020. It was prepared for Kirin Holdings using questionnaires completed by brewers’ associations in each country.
Not surprisingly, Czechia (the Czech Republic as was) came out on top with 181.9 litres (320 pints). Having beer priced at the equivalent of £1.44 per half-litre possibly helps. The runners up were Austria, some way behind on 96.8 litres, followed by Poland on 96.1 litres. Germany came in fifth, down from third the year before, on 92.4 litres. Ireland were 10th with 81.6 litres while the UK staggered in at 28th on 60.2 litres (106 pints). I should make it clear that this is not a competition and a high level of beer consumption is not necessarily praiseworthy. Please treat this as simply a reflection of cultural preferences.
Total world consumption of beer in 2020 was estimated to be 177.5 million kilolitres (that’s around 375 billion pints). This was some 12.8 million kilolitres less than in 2019, thought to be because of the pandemic. Figures for total consumption per country were also given but these, of course, tend to reflect population size. China was the clear leader (36,088 thousand kilolitres) with the USA second (24,105 thousand kilolitres). The UK came in in eighth place on 4,088 thousand kilolitres.
BEER AND CIDER MARKETING AWARDS 2022
Although not everyone appreciates the skills of the marketing industry, it has its part to play. Several London breweries won awards this year. They are:
- Best Community Engagement – Gold: Brixton (Beer Exchange)
- Corporate Social Responsibility – Highly Commended: Portobello
- Best New Launch/Start Up – Silver: Anspach & Hobday
- Best Use of Sponsorship – Gold: Fuller’s (London Pride GB&I Lions rugby)
- Best Trade Marketing Campaign – Gold: Anspach & Hobday
Our congratulations to them all.