‘Unlock small breweries’ potential so we can all cheer with a local beer’

Like me, I’m sure you’re enjoying the bumper summer of sport this summer. And if you’re anything like me, you’ll have been enjoying it with a glass of something cool in your hand, especially during the heatwave!

Yet while you’re standing in a local pub, cheering on your team, the chances are that the pint you’re drinking isn’t local at all. In fact, 8 in 10 pints of beer sold in our pubs are produced by a handful of large globally owned breweries. It means you’re more likely to see Spanish or Dutch beer brands on a bar’s starting lineup than the homegrown talent.

You may ask why this matters – surely this is just supply and demand? The pub serves what people want to drink.

The evidence shows that’s not the case. There’s overwhelming support for greater choice at the bar, but pub landlords can find themselves powerless to respond. A recent YouGov poll demonstrated that 80% of beer consumers want to see local beers served alongside those dominant globally owned brands. This increases to 89% for young people aged 18-24.

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This is because we increasingly care more about the provenance and quality of our products. We value authenticity, sustainability and locality. But when it comes to beer in pubs, our values are being thwarted.

We’re fortunate to have more than 1,500 breweries in the UK – around 1 for every 35,000 responsible adults – although that figure has been dramatically falling in recent years as small breweries have sadly closed their doors for good.

Yet this large number of innovative independent breweries are only responsible for a small amount – less than 10% of the beer that’s enjoyed in our country. These small breweries report not being permitted to sell to over 60% of the pubs in their local area.

How do we reconcile this difference? There are consumers clamouring for greater choice and local breweries eager to serve. Yet our pubs continue to tap the same global brands.

One of the core barriers relates to the pub model itself, around a third of pubs are “tied” where the large pub companies have an iron grip on what beers end up in the tenants’ pub’s cellars.

It’s the same in my own constituency of Carlisle, although there’s also a unique historic explanation. During the Great War, Carlisle’s pubs were nationalised to prevent drunkenness amongst the munitions factory workers critical to the war effort. It was not until 1973 that they were finally sold, with most hoovered up by the large pub companies. This means that many of these pubs remain beyond the reach of the three excellent local breweries – Carlisle Brewing Co, Great Corby Brewhouse and West Walls Brewing.

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And they face other barriers too including sole supply contracts, minimum purchase obligations and restrictions on the draught equipment used to serve beer which act as handcuffs around landlords’ hands.

Our Labour Government was elected on the promise of generating a wave of economic growth and to act as a lighthouse for unfair practices and domineering activities. This is why one of the early initiatives the Government announced in its first Budget was a review of market access for small breweries. It’s been examining the supply, sale and dispense of draught beer in all pubs across the four nations. Hopefully we’ll see an update before the summer of the initiatives that the Government can implement to raise the anchor and release the independent brewing sector from its moorings.

One of the initiatives I’ve been campaigning for is a Guest Beer Agreement for our tied pubs. This would allow pub tenants to directly access at least one local beer of their choosing in cask or keg, buy it directly from a local small brewery and sell it to their thirsty beer drinkers at a competitive price.

Scotland recently introduced a similar scheme, whereby publicans can choose a wide range of beers – from dark and bittersweet Scotch ales to ruby milds and hoppy IPAs – to meet customer demand. Early reports show it’s been well received with 86% of those that had an agreement in place saying it’s improving their trade.

That would certainly go down well in Carlisle, where pub patrons can currently only look across the border into Scotland with envy. Carlisle brewers now face an absurd situation that they could sell directly to a tenanted pub in Gretna but not the pub next door to the brewery. This must change.

And what better way to make sure football is coming home than with a local pint of beer brewed by one of our excellent local breweries. Who couldn’t drink to that!  

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