Category: Opinion

On Tuesday 15 September, Paul Ainsworth (Barnsley CAMRA) and Dave Pickersgill (Sheffield & District CAMRA) had a short meeting with Miriam Cates, the recently-elected MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge.

The discussion included several areas: the effect of lockdown on pubs and breweries (both local and nationwide), the pubs code, business rates, community pubs and international trade.

Pubs and bars were closed from late March until, at the earliest, 4 July. Many pubs have struggled to  reopen, having invested their dwindling reserves to do so safely and securely in line with Covid-safe guidance. We believe that support is required as they struggle to reestablish.

Last month, the British Beer and Pub Association said more than a third of pubs failed to break even in July, and a quarter of pubs and bars were uncertain their businesses would still be viable by 2021.

Sales at pub, restaurant and bar chains halved in July compared with last summer. Trade in bars was down almost two-thirds (63%) and pubs saw a 45% slump in the first month that businesses were able to reopen.

The furlough wage support scheme has allowed many pubs to retain their staff. In lockdown areas and in struggling areas, many pubs and bars will be forced to close unless the government agrees to extend the furlough, which is due to be withdrawn. Miriam believes that this furlough scheme ‘was one of the best in the world.’ However, she is also in favour of the scheme ending as it is not financially sustainable beyond October, especially given that debt is now at 100% of GDP. Other support schemes are available but the priority must now shift to creating new jobs  She also mentioned the ‘possibility that pubs won’t be able to operate at full capacity for a year.’ Miriam did, though, agree that ‘pubs are vital to local communities’.

Alcohol was excluded from the government’s six month VAT cut from 20% to 5% designed to stimulate the hospitality industry. More than 60% of the UK’s 47,000 pubs are “wet-led”, meaning they make more money from alcohol than food. This puts them at an immediate disadvantage. Miriam defended this difference.on the grounds that lines have to be drawn somewhere and often difficult decisions made.

Pubs are also facing huge rent bills with nearly all of the major pub companies (the exception being Admiral Taverns) opting to defer their demands, or offer a discounted rate, instead of cancelling payments as business has dried up during the pandemic. This is likely to lead to opportunistic planning applications, as pubs continue to close. Miriam mentioned the impact of ‘Big chains not willing to have a conversation about rent.’

There are currently 153 community owned pubs in UK. None has gone bust. Miriam was very interested in how this figure could be increased. It was agreed that we would provide suitable written background material. She ‘wants a return of small independent retailers.’

The Pubs Code was introduced in 2016. Since then Publicans have expressed bitter complaints about the financial impact of the “beer tie” – the arrangement that governs the relationship between large pub companies that own thousands of pub premises and the tenants who run the business. We believe that an urgent review of the not-working Pubs Code is required. Miriam committed herself to writing to the Small Firms Minister, Paul Scully, on this point.

CAMRA will be asking for extension to the  business rates holiday which runs out in March 2021. We also want to see business rates system for pubs to be reformed with a low business rates multiplier for hospitality business generally.

Miriam stated that Business rates in general need looking at compared to other European countries. She ‘completely supports the need for business rates reform’ saying they could be based on takings not the size of property. She is also concerned regarding  possible holes in Local Authority finances given that rates revenue goes directly into their coffers.

During lockdown, breweries saw a much reduced outlet for cask beer. There was much ullage, and many staff were furloughed. Some breweries increased their direct sales while others had no income as they had no packaging facilities. Some took the opportunity to deep clean, rebrand and/or  review. For example, Penistone-based Brewery Whitefaced (named after local sheep: the Whitefaced Woodland) have put in a planning application for a new bar and location for their nano brewery in central Penistone. Miriam promised her support for this development. (The other brewery in the constituency is Korrupt Brew Co (also Penistone)).

We also discussed the effect on breweries of current trade talks. Many UK Breweries, including both Korrupt and Whitefaced, make extensive use of aromatic hops from Central Europe, New Zealand, and USA. We have major concerns regarding supply after the end of this year – both continuity and cost – it is likely to be more difficult to import (more/new paperwork).

Miriam stated that it is vital that ‘vital that we get a free trade agreement.’ We should ‘put everything into negotiating that deal.’

All breweries need support as they reestablish.

Paul Ainsworth & Dave Pickersgill

Dear CAMRA member As Chairman of CAMRA Sheffield & District Branch I would like to take this opportunity to ask members to actively support the Sheffield Branch in 2020. The Sheffield Branch Committee is seeking support from members to arrange social activities, edit our monthly magazine Beer Matters and communicate with National CAMRA. The committee meet monthly @ The Dog and Partridge and it will be difficult to continue with our current activities without some extra support. If you are interested please contact a member of the committee. I would like to invite all members to attend the Sheffield Branch Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Tuesday 14 April (8pm) in the function room (disabled access) at The Greystones on Greystones Road (S11 7BS). At the meeting we will chose the committee for the next year, and debate and vote on any motions submitted. The deadline for submission of motions is four weeks in advance of the AGM (March 17) to Phil Ellet at a Branch meeting or Email secretary@sheffield.camra.org.uk . Formal business includes reports from the Chairman and Treasurer. Following the AGM a short Branch meeting will take place to share pub, club and brewery news. Social activities and future meetings will be announced. As I mention above Sheffield Branch are always keen to encourage CAMRA members to get in involved in social activities, judges and join the committee. Please consider an active role to support Sheffield CAMRA Branch. The Greystones can be reached by bus 83 (stop outside the pub) or 81/82 and 88 (stop near the Coop on Ecclesall Road and a steep 10min walk up Greystones Road). I look forward to meeting you at the AGM. Cheers Glyn Mansell, Chairman Sheffield & District CAMRA

January is one of the most difficult times of year in the pub business with reduced customer levels, mainly due to people being a bit skint after Christmas with all the extra spending on gifts and everything else involved with the celebrations. It is being made even worse for the pubs and breweries that supply them now by various campaigns to encourage people to turn their back on the pubs they love, stop drinking and give the money to charity instead! We say instead of dry January, get the new year off to a good start with “Tryanuary” whilst still supporting the pubs, specialist beer shops and breweries that supply them. Why not make an effort to try new beers or beer styles during January? Be that a mild, traditional bitter, Blonde, IPA, Stout, Porter, Barley Wine, Saison, Sour or one of many others, there is plenty to choose from. Wanting to be sensible after Christmas and new year excesses? You could still socialise at the pub and enjoy a session strength beer or a low/no alcohol alternative – or even look out for those pubs and bars with an interesting choice of soft drinks. Another way of enjoying Tryanuary might be to visit pubs you haven’t been to before, there are lots of good ones in our area!

Pulling together to support pubs and clubs Pubs face a huge tax burden, including VAT, excise duties, business rates, corporation tax and other pub-specific costs. In total £12.7bn in taxes are paid across the beer and pubs sector per year. Tax makes up around one third of the cost of a pint sold in a pub. Pubs pay 2.8% of the total amount paid in business rates, but account for only 0.5% of total business turnover. Various relief schemes have been brought in, but these have been time limited and haven’t affected licensees coping with the largest rates increases. The next Government needs to undertake a full review of business rates in England to fix the unfair overpayment by the pub sector permanently. In 2016 the Government introduced a Pubs Code and Adjudicator in England and Wales to govern the relationship between large pub companies and their licensees. This followed many years of CAMRA’s campaigning against the shortterm business practices of large pub companies which led to underinvestment in pubs, pub closures and high prices. The Code is currently under review, and it needs substantial changes to the legislation underpinning it to make it finally deliver for tenants. This includes fixing loopholes that allow pub companies to game the Code and making sure that tenants have access to the same levels of information as their pub companies. The new Government needs to seize the opportunity of the review to make changes to the Pubs Code Regulations to fix the problems with the existing Code. Pulling together to support beer and cider Three consecutive cuts in beer duty from 2013-2015, followed by a freeze in 2016, gave the sector a huge boost. Despite a further freeze in 2018, beer duty in the UK remains much higher than other nearby brewing nations, meaning that brewers are unable to properly invest in their businesses. Should the UK leave the EU, this will present an opportunity for the UK Government to re-balance the tax differential between the on-trade and the off-trade and demonstrate support for the vast majority of consumers who drink responsibly and in social environments. A lower rate of duty for draught beer sold in pubs could be introduced to recognise the social benefits of alcohol being consumed in regulated, social environments. This year the Government introduced a new duty band for cider between 6.9% abv and 7.5% abv in strength. This measure was brought in to target cheap, low cost ‘white’ ciders that are nothing like the natural, high quality and price point product that real cider producers make. The existing duty band should not be widened, and the rate of duty should not be raised above any other across the board duty increases.

According to the Long Live The Local campaign; more than 3000 pubs have closed their doors for good in the last 3 years and over the course of the next 5 years more than 1 in 10 pubs will join them, costing thousands of jobs in the process. It’s long been known that the pub scene is in decline, caused by rising beer tariffs, competition from supermarkets and partially, in my opinion, a failing on our part, as a community, to evolve with the times. We, as a community could be doing so much more to encourage more people to use independent pubs and to make them feel welcome when they do. There are many contentious subjects in beer (cask vs, keg, big money buy-outs etc.) but the key to moving forward is shifting focus from the things that divide us towards the things that bring us together, because at their core that is what pubs are about; bringing people together. Pubs are at the heart of our communities and yet so many people don’t feel welcome or comfortable utilising this cornerstone of British society. It’s a sideways, judgemental look from the man sitting at the bar when a woman orders a pint instead of a half. It’s a glance over the shoulder of the girl behind the bar to ask the barman behind her what beer he’d recommend. It’s the shifting in the seats when a visibly queer person walks up to the bar and the audible scoff when they order a gin and tonic in a “traditional real ale” pub. This is everyday, it is pervasive, sometimes it’s unconscious but for many it is the reality and it’s important for everyone to remember that just because it isn’t happening to you, doesn’t mean that it’s not happening. So how can we move forward? A great starting point is to operate zero tolerance policies in our pubs, train staff to deal with issues regarding discrimination and make sure that customers know that if they are discriminated against that staff will have their back and remove/bar offending parties. A great example of this is the Everyone Welcome Initiative, which provides solid guidelines for businesses on how to deal with discrimination and how to make everybody feel welcome in their venue. Another positive move is to avoid supporting businesses that use discriminatory branding; a move which was taken at the Great British Beer Festival (GBBF) this year by banning the sale of beers and ciders with discriminatory pumpclips. Both this and the choice of Stonewall as this year’s chosen charity at the festival are positive moves by CAMRA and GBBF emphasise a growing movement to end discrimination and encourage diversity in beer, but the resulting backlash also highlighted the sheer amount of resistance there is to progressive moves like this from within the beer community. We’re certainly seeing an increase in the number of women and queer people feeling comfortable enough to engage with the beer community at the moment, in part thanks to initiatives and organisations such as Ladies That Beer, Women on Tap, The Queer Brewing Project and Sheffield’s Out and About to name just a few. Supporting these organisations, encouraging diversity and making newcomers to the beer scene feel welcome within our community is extremely important, not just for the individuals who currently feel marginalised but it is also essential if we want to encourage new markets to help save independent pubs and see our community not just survive but thrive. Michael Deakin

It was way back in 1984 when  I wrote my first ever article for Beer Matters. The first of many I was to write over the next few years. It was an article bewailing the fact that various breweries were using low interest loans to free houses in return for their product, narrowing the choice of beers available and creating a backdoor monopoly. This was back in the days of the tied estate, now fast becoming a twentieth century relic. The tied estate has largely been replaced by the pub-owning chain, who are at liberty to buy and supply beer from any brewer these days. Progress. Though at the time I and several others in CAMRA questioned whether this was entirely a good thing, coupled with the move by the owners of the tied estates to change from the old-style rents, to leasehold agreements, meant that many pub landlords were forced to leave the trade. Plus it sometimes meant that some old, favourite pubs suffered less than sympathetic renovations that, along with a fetish for giving pubs gimmicky and silly names, meant that the changes weren’t always welcomed. Ah well, progress always comes at a price. And it was progress. The changes within the brewing industry did lead to far greater choice for you, the drinker. When I started to write for Beer Matters, Sheffield had four breweries. Four. Down from over 40 individual breweries that had served Sheffield at the beginning of the twentieth century. Whitbread, Stones, Hope & Anchor and Wards, now all gone. All that remains are the names of the beers, brewed by other brewers. Progress? I don’t think so. Neither did anyone else in CAMRA. Breweries swallowed up by bigger breweries, which in turn were swallowed up by even bigger breweries in a feeding frenzy of eat or be eaten. Big is beautiful, biggest is best. That was the prevailing  dogma, and sod the drinker. And the they got away with it. Why? Drinker apathy. “I have always drunk Tennant’s” was something I heard a lot from older drinkers. Well no you didn’t, Tennant’s brewery was swallowed up by Whitbread many years before. So long in fact that I bet you never drank Tennant’s, just a beer brewed by Whitbread using a name they acquired when they bought the brewery. I recently heard a similar sentiment expressed, “I have always drunk Stones.” Well not any more you can’t. Stones has gone, all that’s left is the name. Likewise, Wards, now brewed by Robinson’s with different yeast, different hops, and different water. The yeast is especially important as they used both foculating and semi-flocculating yeast; part of what made Wards distinctive, love it or hate it. A marmite beer but distinctive, unique, and now sadly vanished for good. Though truth to tell, Wards had long ceased to be Wards, as changes in brewing and how long it was conditioned in the brewery, from two weeks to a week to three days, meant that it lost its distinctive nose and taste. The members of CAMRA, weren’t apathetic drinkers. We campaigned to halt the slide towards bland, mass-produced keg beer, we campaigned for choice, for real ale. Through Beer Matters and all the other local newsletters, across the country. Getting our message into the hands of drinkers by taking copies of Beer Matters into pubs right across sheffield and district. And it worked. Over 40 breweries at the start of the twentieth century. By the late twentieth century only four. Now, at the start of the twenty-first, 24 breweries, and counting. Real progress. The tie, originally a good thing, allowing breweries an outlet for their beers, became over time a noose, strangling choice. Not just in terms of beers but in every aspect of sales, from wines and spirits to soft drinks and crisps. I wrote about the absurdity of, pint for pint, soft drinks being far more expensive. Soft drinks. Hard prices indeed. The big breweries used their tied pubs as milch cows, squeezing every once of profit from them. CAMRA actively campaigned both locally and nationally against the tie, finally forcing the government to act, limiting the tie to 500 pubs and introducing a policy allowing publicans to buy two beers from outside the tie. A small start but a start. Opening up the market to the microbrewery, and increasing choice. The brewers tried to get round the break up of the tie by setting up their own pub chains; remember the Scream and the All Bar One chains, amongst others? Identikit pubs selling identical beers. But the genie was out of the bottle, and we saw the arrival of the Wetherspoon chain of pubs, a genuine chain of freehouses. Finally more choice for drinkers. And that choice has grown, but what limits choice now, is geography. Lots of choice in and around city centers but, in the suburbs and outskirts, we have seen the loss of so many local pubs. Local pubs, so much a part of national heritage, are vanishing at an alarming rate and, if we lose them, an important part of our national identity will vanish with them. Use them or lose them. I mentioned drinker apathy earlier but it was more than that, it was also loyalty to your local. The local was the hub of the community; it was where you met your friends, your family. No family celebration was complete without a trip to someone’s local. Mums, dads, aunts, uncles, cousins; weddings, christenings, funerals, birthdays; all celebrated down your local. So when the beer range changed, due to yet another takeover, you complained for a while but got used to it. The big brewers dominance was so great that they could offer the same choice offered by the infamous Hobson: it’s this or nothing. I’m reminded of the two chaps drinking in a pub, one says to the other “beer’s rubbish in here since the new brewery took over, I don’t know about you but i will be glad when I have had enough.” A sour joke with more than a grain of truth. Well CAMRA wasn’t willing to accept Hobson’s choice and we began campaigning for a real and greater choice of quality beer. The reason CAMRA’s campaign was so very successful is entirely down to grassroots activism, local branches producing a local newsletter that informed the drinker about what was going on in and around their pubs. The first thing anyone looked at when they got the latest issue of Beer Matters (and I, as editor, was keenly interested in knowing) was not (as I hoped) my usual rant about some topical issue, but pub news; and then who had won this months pub; and finally future events, which part of Sheffield and district we were visiting. This raised awareness of the pubs that were out there. The pub at the bottom of your road that you had never visited, but had always wondered about. Above all, where to go for a drink. So much more important than my ranting. But my rants did raise awareness… and get me in bother. Legal action was threatened on several occasions. Thankfully threats to sue came to nothing. It was an eventful and fun few years as editor. But Beer Matters was never a solo effort. I was entirely dependent on my contributors, the dedicated branch members who sourced the pub news, organised walkabouts, and wrote articles. And the general public who would write in on a variety of subjects. Big thanks to them all. Without them there would not have been a Beer Matters . Some months, filling eight A5 pages took some doing. Other months, just too much to include in our meager eight pages. Special thanks must go to the late Mike Hensman and his partner Liz. Both former chairs of Sheffield CAMRA who guided my first fumbling steps as editor, patiently correcting my poor spelling and appalling grammar. They also made material contributions with a number of excellent articles and helped in redesigning Beer Matters masthead. Also thanks to Jenny Lightowler and Dave Staves, who took over typing duties and helped improve the look of Beer Matters. so much so that it won CAMRA’s award for most improved local newsletter. Result. Thank you also to everyone who turned up every month to staple Beer Matters as it came as 4 A4 sheets that needed stapling and folding. Special thanks are due to the late Jack  Ware and his lovely wife Carol, they never missed a stapling night and more importantly distributed copies to pubs in their area. Thank you everyone who, over the years, has helped distribute Beer Matters to the pubs around Sheffield. After all, if it’s not available in pubs, it cannot be read. Finally a special thank you goes to my friend John Beardshaw. He has been with Sheffield CAMRA from its earliest days, helping organise its first and all subsequent beer festivals. He has also been from the start, and continues to be, a contributor to Beer Matters. All the way from back in the days when it was called the Parish Pump, and was two sheets of A4, photocopied and stapled together, to the present. From such humble beginnings, great things have grown. In truth, the current format of Beer Matters is a great improvement on my own humble efforts. It is now a highly polished and professional looking magazine and not just a simple newsletter. Talking of humble beginnings, the big four breweries that dominated the brewing scene in Sheffield have gone, fallen over like ancient trees in a forest, leaving space and light for the saplings to grow. And they are growing. From four to 24 breweries. Marvelous. And joy of joys, an exciting new range of beer styles. Plus the rebirth of old (and I thought long since vanished and forgotten) types of beer. In particular, oatmeal stout and milk stout. I thought milk stout had vanished in the 60s with the demise of John Smiths bottled Milk Maid Stout. Ideal for nursing mothers, invalids, and of youngsters, “but don’t tell your mum and dad” as my fun uncle told me. Now a proper cask version is available. Oh joy. We really have come a long way from days when lager was the new, hip drink, and bitter was what your dad drank. Now lager is the dad drink and cask beer is the choice of a new more discerning generation of drinkers. 500 issues of Beer Matters. here’s to the next 500, cheers. Adrian Staton Former Editor