Woodforde's Brewery CEO budget reaction

Paul Sullivan, CEO of Woodforde’s Brewery, said: “Overall, the budget was a little neutral - there's some good things in there but some bad too.

“From a brewer and business point of view it appears the government is looking to support smaller businesses with rates, which is a plus.

“Business rate relief for pubs will help them operate – they are our lifeblood as customers and essential to the community.

“Energy savings have to be good for everybody but how that will work and whether it will apply to businesses is yet to be seen.

“Hopefully it makes people feel a little more comfortable, and that it feeds into sectors like hospitality if they have more money in their pocket.”

“With the £10 million alcohol duty relief announcement I am still waiting on the detail from the treasury.

“In terms of the Small Producer Relief, it will be helpful in a small way for some of the products we produce and will allow us to invest a bit more in the business.

“There is still a duty increase (RPI) in February, so the smaller producer relief brings exactly that, small relief.

“The guest beer provision in the pubs code, if implemented correctly, will be good too as our ability to access pub companies and tied tenants can be limited.

“That said, the economies of delivery will need to be looked into.

“It is a little support, but in the grand scheme of things will not help the consumer dramatically and provide little respite for smaller brewers.

“I think there’s some good stuff in the budget terms of the cost of living which will be a positive on businesses, however, the minimum wage increase is a negative.

“It’s great that people will get more money in their pay packet but for smaller businesses, such as those in the pub trade or hospitality, it poses a risk.

“If you are increasing wages by 3.9% you really need the savings to businesses to be up to that figure too.”

“My general thoughts were that the budget was a little wishy-washy. It didn’t address some of the big issues, like transport, for example, which it didn't seem to touch.

“The situation with minimum wages and thresholds for national insurance haven’t helped small businesses, if anything it has got worse.

“Is it a budget for small and medium sized businesses? Not really, I would say.

“I have been listening to the budget and thinking ‘has he listened to everything we as small or medium businesses have said? Sadly, no is the answer.”

For further information please contact Adam Howlett via adam@frielgood.com.

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