Microbreweries hit by flooded pub closures

Pub closures from flooding are hitting sales at microbreweries across the country.

Flooding in Central and South East England has caused over 500 pubs to close, with a knock-on effect on revenue for suppliers of beer.

Teme Brewery in Knightwick, Worcestershire, was engulfed by water for the second time in as many weeks and the pubs it supplies in nearby Evesham are all closed.

Brewery owner Chris Gooch, said: "Unfortunately, what we hear is that there are a lot of pubs shut and breweries are trying to sell beer into ever fewer outlets. When we finally re-join the race, we think our position in the market will have changed substantially."

He added that the price of malting barley and hops could go up if local crops fail. The water has prevented the barley from being combined and the hops have not been sprayed regularly enough.

Roland Elliott-Berry, owner of Battledown Brewery, in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, said the floods had cost the brewery a week's worth of money.

He said: "Our biggest problem is that the pubs are all closed, so we've got no one to sell to at the moment."

Nick Stafford, Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) commercial director, added:: "Breweries are being affected indirectly by a drop in sales, particularly in rural areas, and could experience anywhere between 10 to 20 per cent loss of turnover. It's even to the extent that people are going abroad and not spending their holidays in the UK, and are not there to be drinking beer. I think we are looking for some nice weather forecasts in a couple more weeks, and hope to get some improved sales."

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