Boom time for Britain's craft brewers

Britain�s craft brewers are bucking the trend and reporting an encouraging growth in sales despite the economic downturn, pub closures and a slump in beers produced by global brewers � that is the powerful message from SIBA, the Society of Independent Brewers. Its annual Local Brewing Industry Report says its 450 members are investing with confidence for the future as they meet consumer demand for local products. In stark contrast to the decline in sales reported by national and global brewers, the craft brewing sector grew by 10% in 2008. Three per cent was contributed by new brewers who were not operating in 2007, leaving "like for like" volumes up by an impressive 7%.

SIBA's chief executive Julian Grocock (left) commented: "These are impressive figures that speak volumes for the talent, entrepreneurship and hard work of small brewers throughout Britain. They also demonstrate how the right fiscal support, in the shape of Progressive Beer Duty, can encourage companies not only to thrive but to invest in their future. We applaud the government's commitment to retain PBD and urge them to reconsider other punitive aspects of their taxation policy, which risk causing irreparable damage to the sector." Beer duty rose by 17.8% in 2008, a record increase that, coupled with the increased cost of ingredients, fuel and utilities, hit the margins of smaller brewers. Forty-five per cent of local brewers saw their gross profits fall last year and only one in eight managed to improve their margins.

• The SIBA Local Brewing Industry Report 2009 is based on a survey of close to 200 SIBA members conducted during November and December 2008. Members who took part in the survey were all brewers producing fewer than 30,000 hectolitres a year.

• Progressive Beer Duty (PBD) was introduced in 2002 following a 20-year campaign. Originally it offered relief on duty only to brewers producing up to 30,000 hls but this was extended in 2004 to an upper limit of 60,000 hl.

• HM Revenue & Customs defines a microbrewer as producing up to 5,000 hl a year and a local brewer between 5,000 and 30,000 hl. Above that level,

• a regional brewer produces between 30,000 and 2,000,000 hl and a national brewers in excess of 2,000,000 hl.

addendum

In praise of ... microbreweries

Sunshine and even the widespread appearance of green shoots, even if they are snowdrops and winter aconites rather than more robust signs of financial recovery. What else do we need to fill the cup of happiness? Aha, this: Britain 's independent local breweries are bucking every dismal trend. Their share of the beer in the last 12 months has grown by 10%. This is a reward for major work on a minor scale; the perseverance of groups like the village cooperative in Hesket Newmarket, at the back of Skiddaw in Cumbria, who saved their Old Crown Inn by opening a brewery in the barn and issuing "village shares".