Comment: Legislation is needed to save local beers and brewers

In 1989 the UK's independent brewing community breathed a sigh of relief as the Beer Orders finally broke the stranglehold of the national brewers and allowed small brewers to sell their beers to a greater and wider audience. Little did we know that this simple freeing of the guest beer tie would in 17 years see such a dramatic change to our trading environment.

In effect, the national brewers have been replaced by the national pubcos, which are more defensive than the former ever were.

National tenanted pubcos operate highly restrictive guest ale programmes which seek on average £150 to £165 per barrel discount, and take between 90 and 180 days to pay. It cannot be denied that the tenanted pub companies now control a huge part of the guest ale market, and that if you do not compete on their terms then there is no opportunity for you to trade in their estates.

Many of my colleagues argue that there is no advantage in tendering for the business, since there is no profit in supplying the national tenanted pub chains. The real ale consumer wants locally produced beer from a local brewer at a price they can afford. National brands have their place, as do strong regional brewers, but the craft brewers of today brew some of the most exciting beers in the marketplace, and the consumers want them.

Independent brewer association SIBA has been at the forefront of trying to bring change to the marketplace. Its Direct Delivery Scheme has had some success in introducing new beers to the Enterprise Inns and (former) Avebury estates. However, the scheme does not count towards a pubco area manager's bonus scheme and, as a result, the tenants are not actively encouraged to be part of the scheme. Thus, only a small number of the 8,500-plus pubs are participants.

The bigger brewers who have financed freetrade loans are obliged to offer a guest ale option to their freetrade customers. I have seen examples where once the guest ale becomes established and the consumer is buying it in ever-increasing amounts, the national brewer steps in and increases the retrospective discounts. It then reminds the licensee that they will not get their retrospective discount unless they buy their guest ales from them. Thus another door closes to the local brewer.

The rationalisation of the regional brewing sector continues to see a tighter hold exerted on the market by a smaller number of large brewing entities. With this comes "brand rationalisation" and a further closing down of the market to the local small brewer.

In my area we have seen wholesalers bought and absorbed by the local regional brewer, closing routes to market. The regional brewers, through reciprocal trade, offer guest beers from other out-of-area regional brewers. Such cosy relationships represent the ultimate restrictive practice.

The government recognised,by introducing Progressive Beer Duty, that there was a place for the small brewer in the industry. We create more jobs per barrel brewed, and provide local beers that the consumer wants to drink. It is now time for the legislators to step back into the arena and reintroduce the guest ale policy for companies with more than 750 tenanted pubs. This will create a competitive marketplace where tenants can benefit from dealing with local companies, offering local products, employing local people and having a genuine desire to promote craft beers of the highest quality, with broad market appeal.

We need to act now, or see the demise of the local brewer for the second time in 100 years.

• Simon Buckley is managing director of WM Evan Evans Brewery