The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) has called for swift action on beer duty, saying the current taxation conditions are threatening the futures of firms in the brewing industry.
In the Budget announcement last week, George Osborne confirmed that beer duty was to rise by 7.2 per cent, a rise well above inflation.
The BBPA says that such tax increases are a serious problem for the industry, with up to 10,000 jobs in pubs and at breweries possibly being lost as a result of this.
Group chief executive Brigid Simmonds says that the public are becoming rightly cynical about the way tax escalators are being used to impose "stealth" charges on businesses and individuals.
"There is a need for transparency and clarity – if the government is going to press ahead with such tax rises, they must be spelled out clearly to the public," she added.
However, recent data from the Society of Independent Brewers suggested that although beer sales are falling, demand for independent ales has actually risen in the last 12 months.
Typical Guttridge equipment used in the brewing industry includes:
Conveyors – screw conveyors – chain conveyors – belt conveyors
