The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) has expanded its membership with the addition of JD Wetherspoon, Loungers, the Oakman Group and Drake & Morgan.
The BBPA – whose members account for around 90% of beer brewed in Britain and own around 20,000 of the nation’s pubs – stated that the growth in membership and more than £2bn in supportive measures in the Budget highlighted the value in having a strong voice for the pub and brewing sectors.
It added that the type of organisations that were now joining represented the transformation of the beer and pub sector into a “modern, innovative and forward-looking industry”.
The Drinks Business
08 March 2021 By Arabella Mileham
Wetherspoons and three other pub and bar groups have joined the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA), the trade association that represents brewers and pubs.
The BBPA said the four new members – Wetherspoon, Loungers, The Oakman Group and Drake & Morgan – were resentative of “a shift in the beer and pub sector to a modern, innovative and forward-looking industry which the trade association champions”.
Together, the four operators comprise nearly 1100 venues across the UK. The largest, pub company Wetherspoons, was founded in 1979 by Tim Martin and now operates around 900 outlets across the UK. Cafe/bar Loungers operates 146 sites in England and Wales under its Lounge and Cosy Club brands, while Oakman Group has around 27 ‘modern public house’ primarily based in historic buildings. Meanwhile Drake and Morgan comprises 23 cocktail bars and restaurants across London, Manchester and Edinburgh.
Chancellor faces pressure as pubs and restaurants cling on for life with doors still shut
27 February 2021 • 12:00pm
Boris Johnson may have raised the prospect of a cut in beer duty in this week’s Budget, but Phil Whitehead, the man in charge of Britain’s most popular pint, is at best only cautiously optimistic.
Johnson told the Commons last Wednesday that Rishi Sunak was looking at reducing the levy down to rates charged by the likes of Germany “very closely”.
But just days before the Chancellor stands before the dispatch box, Whitehead, the UK and Ireland boss of Molson Coors – the brewing giant behind Carling – persists in using words like “should” and “could”.
All food and drink, including alcohol, can continue to be provided by delivery.
The Government previously imposed a ban on pubs and restaurants selling takeaway pints
amended the legislation to allow sales of alcohol for takeaway providing orders were placed in advance either over the phone or online.
It represents a marked contrast to the rules in place during the first lockdown, which took place in the spring of last year, where takeaway pints were allowed; a move that was credited with helping many hard-hit pubs stay afloat during the shutdown. Existential crisis
The removal of the ability for restaurants to serve alcohol has been criticised from a number of different quarters.