UK Beer Sales Down

UK beer sales dipped sharply in the second quarter 2012, as poor weather, and the impact of another substantial tax hike in the March Budget failed to compensate for strong trading around the Jubilee weekend and the Euro 2012 football. These new sales figures come from the British Beer & Pub Association quarterly Beer Barometer, issued today.

The British Beer & Pub Association also says that the six per cent decline in sales means the tax hike has brought the Chancellor no extra revenues. Its Chief Executive, Brigid Simmonds, has called recent claims from Minister Chloe Smith that, the policy was helping to tackle the deficit, “misguided”. UK beer sales have fallen by 15 per cent since the controversial policy was introduced in March 2008, with beer duty up by an eye-watering 42 per cent over the same period. The BBPA and Oxford Economics believe this decision will cost some 5,000 jobs in 2012/13.