The UK Brewing Industry

This study looks at all companies registered in the United Kingdom where they identify themselves as manufacturers of beer.

This study includes companies that are dormant or non-trading some of which might be latent while others may operate under their owners’ names but are incorporated to protect the business name. In addition, all newly incorporated companies are included.

The study will exclude those companies that do not specifically identify themselves as manufacturers of beer.

The aim of this study is to provide an overview of the key movers and shakers in the UK brewing sector. Only key data has been isolated, particularly the company’s net worth and total assets, but also its full name, date incorporated, registered office, other activities, shareholders, directors (with date of birth, occupation and nationality) and number of employees.

Two indicators of size are used: net worth and total assets. These are preferable to turnover which is influenced by profit margins and whether the companies are capital or labour intensive.

In Great Britain, 57% of those aged 16 years and over in 2017 drank alcohol (29 million people of the population) while 20% did not drink alcohol at all.

Burton-on-Trent was the centre of beer making with 30 breweries including Bass, the first company to register its trademark.

Beer drinking has been in decline for decades with sales falling and the rise of micro-breweries and craft ales has not halted the downward trend with half of supermarkets’ total beer and cider sales accounted for by lager.

The three largest producers of beer are Germany, UK and Spain, which combined produce 42% of the total EU beer production. In the UK, beer has increased by £0.5 billion (15%) from £3.2 billion in 2016 to £3.7 billion in 2017.

Breakdown of beverages in the UK is as follows: soft drinks (28%), beer (27%), whisky (25%), cider (7%), gin (3%), mineral water (3%) and others (2%).

More than 11,000 pubs have closed in the UK in the last decade, a fall of almost a quarter (23%). The number of UK pubs has fallen from around 52,500 in 2001 to some 38,815 in 2018. Although many pubs have closed, the total turnover of pubs and bars has held up, remaining flat since 2008, adjusted for inflation. Around 70% of workers in pubs and bars are paid less than the Living Wage Foundation’s living wage.

The Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) has 800+ brewing members where cask production is now 69% of total production; on average 5.6 full-time and 1.9 part-time staff are employed by members; beer production showed a 1.7% increase in 2017 compared to 2016, confirming the positive trends; 51% of production is supplied to free-trade pubs, with 13% going to controlled pubs; and 69% of beer is sold within 40 miles of the brewery.

The British Beer and Pub Association reported that under the beer duty escalator alone, (2...