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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Beer in the UK
You’re being lied to about British Beer. That’s the claim made in a new report entitled ‘Beer in the UK ‘ published in the summer by CAMRA. This report sets out how the beer market in Britain is skewed in favour of a small number of huge multinational corporations who use their financial and marketing muscle to get us to drink their products. Four foreign-owned corporations make 80% of British beer. The ‘imported’ lager in your hand was probably brewed in Burton-on-Trent. That craft IPA on the bar is owned by Heineken. Many of the drinks pushed at us by the big brewers are brewed in a few enormous beer factories in the UK.
Meanwhile, hundreds of independent brewers here in Britain struggle to get their lovingly made beers into the country’s pubs and supermarkets. Whilst governments claim to support small businesses, many of the arrangements currently in place simply allow the large breweries and pub companies to line their pockets at the expense of ordinary drinkers. CAMRA is calling on the government to instigate a review by the Competition and Markets Authority into the British beer market so that it can be opened up to our local brewers who are making such exciting quality beers. You can read a summary of the report here which includes a quiz about who actually brews the most well-known craft brands. There is also a link to the whole report with its shocking statistics about the hold the big brewers and pub companies have over our drinking choices. If it makes you angry, get your friends to join CAMRA to help us campaign for a fairer, tastier world!
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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 closed this pub earlier in the year 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. They have formed a campaign group and created a Facebook page which can be seen here. Unfortunately it appears Admiral had already sold the pub before they closed it and now a planning application has been submitted to convert the building into a 12 bed HMO. CAMRA has submitted an objection to the application and the campaign group have been encouraging locals to do the same. The group has also submitted an application to have the Royal designated as an Asset of Community Value. Although the Council doesn’t have a great record on this, let’s hope on this occasion that they realise that pubs are vital community facilities which should be protected.
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Your Rights at the Pub
Do you ever wonder, when you enter a pub, what exactly are your legal rights – whether it’s a about price list or a full pint or even a glass of water, CAMRA has put together a quick guide to the most common questions asked by members. Have a look here to see whether the landlord can throw you out on your ear because you took your pint back!