Responding to the First Minister’s statement today on the reopening of the Scottish economy, Chief Executive of the Society of Independent Brewers, James Calder said:
“While it is welcome that pubs may be able to start to reopen in Scotland from the end of April, the tier system made it impossible for businesses to trade, with alcohol sales banned in level 3 and restrictions with a meal at level 2 along with curfews. Indicatively it looks like all of Scotland will move into level 3 from April 26th, making it impossible for any brewery to trade with pubs. If these restrictions remain as they are, then most pubs will have been unable to trade in Scotland for 8 months.
We need urgent clarity on what the content of the tiers are when we get more information in March. If no changes are apparent then Scottish brewers will need another round of the hugely beneficial Brewers Support Fund to get them through this crisis as the current funding can only help them through the next few weeks or so, with an average cash burn of £5,000 per month, per brewery”.
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Press release from SIBA
For further information please email the SIBA Press Office via press@siba.co.uk