CAMRA is one of the most successful consumer organisations in Europe. Founded by four beer lovers in 1971, today we represent more than 190,000 beer drinkers and pub goers across the UK. Our vision is to have quality real ale, cider and perry and thriving pubs and clubs in every community.
Our mission is:
- to secure the long term future of real ale, real cider and real perry by increasing their quality, availability and popularity;
- to promote and protect pubs and clubs as social centres and part of the UK’s cultural heritage;
- to increase recognition of the benefits of responsible, moderate social drinking;
- to play a leading role in the provision of information, education and training to all those with an interest in beer, cider and perry of any type;
- to ensure where possible that producers and retailers of beer, cider and perry act in the best interests of the consumer.
We do this by encouraging beer and cider drinking and pub and club-going with our beer festivals, pub saving campaigns and awards, and by lobbying Government for change to better support the industry and the trade.
More information can be found on the National website here
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The Rise of the Pub Companies
Once upon a time, most of the pubs in the country were owned by breweries, both small family breweries and big national companies. It was in these companies’ interests to look after their pubs in order to sell their beer. In the 1980’s, some breweries began to look at their business models and realised that they made their money out of pubs rather than selling beer and so decided to close their breweries and buy their beer from other brewers. Out of these changes came the pub companies we know and love today and which dominate the pub landscape.
Once these companies were no longer selling their own beer, they became simply property companies and the pubs they owned just assets rather than community hubs. Once they discovered that some of these assets were worth far more as cottages or flats it made financial sense to sell them off and suddenly we saw pubs closing all over the country. Add into this mix, cheap supermarket beer, changing drinking habits after Covid and unprecedented financial pressures and one of our great British institutions is under threat like never before.
A further pressure that the pub companies pile on to pubs is through the tie which allows them to dictate what pubs can sell and where they can buy it. In the European Union, suppliers are not allowed to tie outlets so any bar is free to buy its beer and other drinks from wherever it wishes. When we were in the EU, the British government managed to carve out an exemption to protect the unique tied house system which allowed brewers to own their own pubs. Once the big brewers decided to stop brewing, the Vertical Block Exemption, as it is known, allowed the pub companies to continue tying pubs even though it wasn’t their beer they were selling. As a result, these companies force pubs to buy drinks from them at much higher prices than they could buy direct from the brewers. They even dictate which fruit machines pubs can have.
CAMRA believes this system is unfair and leads to many pubs which might otherwise be successful becoming run down because the licensees simply cannot make a living. This leads to a succession of temporary licensees with no interest in developing the business, customers stop going and eventually it shuts because it is no longer viable. The tied system still protects small brewers and our Bolton brewers all have tied outlets of their own, but CAMRA believes that only brewers should be allowed to tie pubs and those owned by pub companies should be free to buy their beer from wherever they like. This would increase the access to market for our hundreds of small breweries, most of whom brew cask ale. The Vertical Block Exemption is up for review in the next couple of years so we’ll be campaigning to get it changed so we can have a better range of beers on the bars of our pubs.
Royal Hotel
The Royal Hotel on Vernon Street, Bolton appears to be a classic example of what happens when a pub company stops investing in a pub. Admiral Taverns, one of the country’s largest pub owning businesses has recently announced that this pub is to close claiming it is no longer viable. The regulars claim otherwise. They think that a lack of investment and a run of poor landlords is what has got the pub into this state and they are not prepared to let it go without a fight. Pub companies don’t have a great record of changing their minds when they’ve decided to let a pub go but there are dozens of examples of supposedly unviable pubs being taken on by other operators or taken over by the local community and becoming thriving pubs once again. Let’s hope the locals can do this at the Royal. CAMRA will support their campaign in any way it can.
Shakespeare
A similar situation exists at the Shakespeare in Farnworth. This pub has an historic interior which is Grade II listed. The pub closed some years ago, again apparently unviable, and has been bought by someone who wants to convert it into a House of Multiple Occupation (HMO). Unfortunately, the new owner began work on the conversion before obtaining planning permission and now the Council has stepped in. The owner submitted a hastily put together retrospective application to which CAMRA objected. The Council considered the application completely inadequate for such an important building and have refused permission. They said the only use compatible with the listed interior would be as a pub. That doesn’t mean it can never be changed but it gives anyone wanting to make changes a high bar to hurdle. Once again it would be great if an operator could take this historic pub and breathe new life into it.
Business Rates
You may have seen in the national news what happened when the Government tried to remove the remaining 40% discount pubs receive on their business rates. This discount was brought in at 75% during Covid and has been gradually reduced since. With all the other financial pressures including energy costs and increased employment costs, the hospitality sector was horrified to find that business rates would be increasing too. Add in the rating revaluation of business properties, and it would result in pubs paying a higher proportion of a bigger amount. Fortunately, the Government saw the error of its ways and partially reinstated the discount at 15% and reduced the multiplier used to calculate the rates. The Government says this will mean most pubs will pay the same or less rates. Some operators say they will still see significant increases. The simple fact is that the whole business rates system is too complicated and needs a complete overhaul. We will be campaigning along with other trade bodies to persuade the Government to introduce a much fairer system that does not penalise high street businesses in the way the current system does.
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Handpump Hijack
Big brewers’ plan to mislead consumers
For generations, a handpump on the bar has been a sign of quality. Where cask is well kept, consumers can be sure of a spotless cellar, well-trained bar staff and a commitment to offering the best of UK brewing.
Now, Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company – one of the world’s largest brewery conglomerates – has resorted to misleading consumers by hijacking the handpump to serve its “Fresh Ale” product. CMBC says this is “preserving the beloved hand pull ritual that delivers the traditional theatre of serve that ale is famed for”.
CAMRA believes consumers deserve better than CMBC play acting at serving cask – a product they claim to champion while closing breweries and removing cask lines from bars. Our handpump hijack campaign calls on brewers to be proud of all their whole range of beers by serving them in a way that won’t mislead their customers.
Read more about it on the National CAMRA website