UK beer sales fall again, prompting more calls for beer duty freeze
UK beer sales fell again in the third quarter of 2012, prompting more calls for a freeze on the beer duty escalator.
The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) Beer Barometer showed that pub sales of beer were down 4.8% compared with the third quarter of last year, with off-trade sales down 6.5%.
The figures mean that, despite the benefits of the Olympics and Euro 2012, beer drinkers drank 117 million fewer pints of beer in Q3 compared with 2011.
The BBPA said that analysis from Oxford Economics indicated that a duty freeze in March 2013 would save 5,000 jobs in the sector, which employs almost one million people - mostly younger people in Britain's pubs.
Meanwhile, MPs were today expected to push for a full Parliamentary debate on the impact of the escalator, following a petition signed by over 100,000 people calling for Government action on the issue.
British beer has endured a 42% tax increase since March 2008. A further, 2% above-inflation increase proposed for Budget 2013 would take the figure towards 50%.
Brigid Simmonds, chief executive of the BBPA, said: "If the Government wants to encourage growth, back British business and support local communities, then it must end the beer duty escalator. The chancellor must listen to the thousands of people now calling for a change, so the sector can grow, create jobs and contribute more to UK Plc."
By Neil Gerrard
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