Turnover of the UK’s top 25 independent breweries hit a record high of £1.72bn in the last year although there was a higher rate of insolvencies for small brewers, according to new data.
The figure was up nine per cent year on year, according to national accountancy group UHY Hacker Young.
The record turnover was despite well-documented headwinds in the sector, including reduced consumer confidence and spending, as well as high energy prices and wages for breweries.
However, it matches the excellent results reported by pub giants recently, which have allayed fears of decline within the drinks industry.
Fullers said that like for like sales grew of 10.2 per cent over the five-week Christmas and New Year period, while Mitchells grew 10.2 per cent.
“The success of these breweries has been driven by a bounce back in consumer demand for independent and locally sourced goods after the covid-19 pandemic,” James Simmonds, Partner at UHY Hacker Young, said.
However, analysts have warned of disparity between large and small breweries.
Trouble brewing for smaller firms?
Turnover at Brewdog, the UK’s largest independent craft beer company, reached £281m, up 11 per cent from £253m in 2023 and accounting for just under 15 per cent of all turnover.
The proportion of UK breweries which entered insolvency in 2023 grew by a staggering 82 per cent in 2023, rising from 38 in 2022 to 69 by the end of December.
Nik Antona, chair of CAMRA, The Campaign for Real Ale, has suggested that the brewing industry in being consolidated “into just a few large, international players”.
Hacker Young suggested that restrictions imposed by large breweries, which lock pubs into buying from big brewers, have encouraged this consolidation.
The restrictions reduce access for consumers to guest beers from smaller breweries in pubs, as landlords across the UK are tied into contracts which force them to purchase all of their beer from a single big brewery or pub company.
The Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) has lobbied the Government for a “Guest Beer right”, which would allow every pub to serve at least one beer from a small local brewery.
The Government began a consultation on access to guest beers in its Autumn budget, which Simmonds said could change the situation “radically” and even out the playing field for big and small brewers.