British Destinations Annual Conference

16th June 2014

Brewing and Pubs – supporting Destinations

Brigid Simmonds OBEChief Executive

British Beer & Pub Association

British Beer & Pub Association

Who are we?• National Trade Association representing brewers

and pub companies• 60 member companies (owners of half 50,000 UK

pubs and responsible for 95% of beer production)

What do we do?• Lobby local, national government and European

institutions on behalf of the industry• Liaise with other interested parties• Promote good practice

Beer and Pubs make an important contribution to the British Economy

UK PLC• Beer is a British product and a major tax contributor. • Brewing is a key part of the UK manufacturing base – a world

renowned industry and the third largest exporter in food and drink sector• Beer and pubs contribute £22 billion (GVA) to the UK economy and £11

billion in tax revenue. Beer is integral to pubs - seven out of ten alcoholic drinks sold in pubs is beer

JOBS• Production and sale of beer creates jobs in agriculture, brewing, pubs

and the wider supply chain • Beer and pub sector supports 1 million UK jobs (46% of those employed

in pubs are 16 to 24 year olds)

Beer and Pubs matter

Pubs: at the heart of the community for over a thousand years

• Key function of pubs has always been to provide places of refreshment, hospitality, recreation and sociability

• Pubs have responded to demands of modern consumers

– Family and female friendly• Accommodation – over 50,000 rooms• Free Wi-Fi (over 20,000 pubs now

provide access)• Websites with on-line booking and links

to local tourism/visitor sites• Serving more food than restaurants

(from snacks to fine dining – over 1 billion meals annually)

• Community services/events• Charity fundraising

Beer and Pubs are good for tourism

– integral part of the tourism infrastructure providing hospitality and accommodation for visitors to local attractions, leisure facilities, holiday parks and homes as well as major cities

– Tradition and heritage (visiting a pub is the third most popular activity for overseas visitors)

– Draught ale unique to British pubs – ale trails, brewery visits– Support the local economy (£80,000 a year)– Provide employment (average 10 per pub)– Provide a Community hub for visitors and residents (shops, post

offices, libraries, school meals)– Well equipped as tourist resource centres (local knowledge,

information and leaflets)– Fundraising (Pubs raise over £120 million for local and national

charities every year)

Visit Britain GREAT campaign:

Visit Britain ..... Pubs are GREAT website

New website launched 13th May (in conjunction with Inapub)

Helps visitors find a pub close to an area or attraction they are visiting.

Visitor Information Points

• Pubs great networking and social hubs• Tourism information pilot

scheme launched 2012 in

Peak District• Mutual benefits• Brochure dispenser with

range of local tourism

leaflets• Hope to see this adopted in

other parts of the country

Beer and pubs – key issues

• Taxation – beer duty, VAT• Business costs (rates, utilities, employment)• Red tape and regulation/enforcement• Changing licensing regulations – licensing fees

consultation• Alcohol Strategy (licensing conditions, late night

levy’s)• Planning, use classes

Taxation

Unprecedented second duty cut – estimated saving to beer and pubs £150m this year: all changes to alcohol duties made to support “community pubs”

Prime Minister visits Burton – the home of brewing – to open Molson Coors £21m new bottling plant

George Osborne toasts his Budget at Banks’s brewery, Wolverhampton as Marston’s announce plans to create 3,000 jobs

Business Rates

• More support for smaller businesses• For pubs – retain existing methodology

based on turnover/rental value• Revaluation within 3-5 years• Automatic application of reliefs• More flexibility to take into account fall in

turnover• Evolve system to capture non-property

based businesses (on-line)

Licensing Fees

Licensing Fees consultation - additional regulatory burden for the pub industry- current proposals for caps on licensing fees are far too high- rateable value fee bandings should remain as at present, but

retain an element of locally-set fees (subject to a cap across each fee band)

- Fixed-cost processes under the Act, such as TENs and minor variations, should also be subject to a lower cap than that proposed

- licensing authorities should be fully transparent and accountable when setting their fee levels.

Fines – Magistrates announced increases without consultation

Alcohol and Health• Alcohol Consumption continues to fall:

– UK alcohol consumption down 2.1 per cent in 2013

– Alcohol consumption 7.7 litres per head in 2013

– 18 per cent decline in consumption per head since 2004, to the lowest level this century

Alcohol and Health

• Local high strength bans “Ipswich model”– no firm evidence that bans on higher-strength beers and ciders

have a direct impact on alcohol-related harm or are as effective in reducing crime and disorder as other enforcement measures

– serious questions over the legality of such schemes for both Councils and the businesses involved.

– Higher-strength bans may have a serious impact on consumer choice and have a major impact on producers’ ability to agree national distribution of their products

Responsibility– BBPA engagementMember of Responsibility Deal Alcohol Network

- Core alcohol pledges Labelling Unit awareness – on and off trade Tackling under-age sales Drinkaware support Self regulation for advertising and marketing of alcohol Local Authority Alcohol Action Areas - supporting industry

schemes (e.g. Pubwatch, Best Bar None)

– Promoting lower-alcohol and smaller servings 1 billion unit reduction pledge Low alcohol working group Promoting lower strength in on-trade (new pledge)

Business Improvement Districts

• Business Improvement Districts (BIDs)Nottingham:– Late Night Bid - £260,000– Taxi Marshalls– Street Pastors– Best Bar None– 50% of BII Membership– Purple Flag, Pubwatch

Future High Streets Forum

• Chaired by Brandon Lewis MP• Portas Pilots• Encouraging growth in High Street

– Leadership– Local Authority Engagement– Sustainable Funding– Establishing and communicating the vision– Entrepreneurial spirit

• Parking charges, social media, leisure retail mix

World CupEngland Games -

Knock out stages:

• 14th June 11pmEngland v Italy

• 19th June 8pm Uruguay v England

• 24th June 5pmCosta Rica v England