UK Beer Sales Fell 56% in 2020, Prompting Calls for Reopening Date

--Beer sales in the U.K. dropped by 56% in 2020 after the pandemic shuttered pubs

--Pub owners and operators are calling on the government to provide a clearer roadmap to reducing lockdown restrictions

--Pub owners are also calling for additional financial support to help protect against mass closures

By Joe Hoppe

A U.K. pub association said Wednesday that it has called on the government to give clearer updates on the relaxation of coronavirus-driven lockdown rules, after beer sales plunged 56% in 2020.

Trading restrictions and lockdowns caused beer sales to fall by 7.8 billion pounds ($10.78 billion) to around GBP6.2 billion last year, the British Beer and Pub Association said.

"We are grateful for the financial support the government has given the sector so far and this has really helped to protect jobs and stave off pub closures, but we urgently need confirmation on additional support given the long-term restrictions that have been placed on our sector," Nick Mackenzie, chief executive officer of pub retailer and brewer Greene King, a subsidiary of CK Asset Holdings Ltd., said.

In the second quarter alone, pub beer sales dropped by 96% on year during the first national lockdown, the association said. In the third quarter, loosened restrictions, a temporary tax cut on food and soft drinks, and the government's Eat Out to Help Out plan meant that pub beer sales recovered slightly, down just 27% on year. The reintroduction of tighter restrictions in the fourth quarter prompted a fall of 77% in sales compared with the same period the prior year.

Mark Davies, CEO of Hawthorn--a community pub operator and subsidiary of NewRiver REIT PLC--said it was crucial that immediate financial support was secured for the pub sector, with business rates and value-added tax adjustments an urgent priority.

"We need a fair and viable roadmap to reopening in a safe and socially responsible way as we did on July 4 last year when we came out of the first national lockdown," Mr. Davies said.

The BBPA added that it was urging the government to allow pubs to reopen together with nonessential retail and other parts of the hospitality sector after the vaccination of the most vulnerable. It also called for looser trading restrictions, and continued financial support in the form of a stimulus package to ward off unsustainable debts and shuttered pubs.

At 1121 GMT, shares in CK Asset Holdings were up 0.8%; up 0.3% in NewRiver REIT; down 0.5% in pub chain J.D. Wetherspoon PLC; and up 1% in pub operator Mitchells & Butlers PLC.

Write to Joe Hoppe at joseph.hoppe@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 10, 2021 06:40 ET (11:40 GMT)

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