The most recent Independent Beer Report from the Society of Independent Brewers & Associates (SIBA), showed 31% of the workforce now identify as female, up 1% compared o four years ago.
While incremental, the change reflected a small “move in the right direction” in a sector that has historically been male dominated, the report stated.
Of the 155 breweries surveyed, women also accounted for 21% of independent brewery owners. Introduced for the first time this year, the category lacks historical comparison but is expected to become a key metric in future reports.
Front-of-house roles continued to see the strongest female representation, with women making up more than half (50.3%) of taproom and bar staff, an increase of 2% year-on-year.
However, representation within brewing roles declined. Just 3% of the total female workforce were employed as brewers, down 1% year-on-year.
Disappointing number
The survey also found just 7% of brewing functions teams were female, described in the report as “a disappointing number”.
In contrast, women continued to dominate administrative roles.
Some 72% of admin and accounting staff identified as female, despite a 6% drop compared with 2025. The report added 14% of the female workforce worked in these roles, compared with just 2% of men.
It stated while there had been a shift in overall gender balance, “there does, however, remain an imbalance when it comes to the type of roles female workers are taking up within the independent beer sector”.
Speaking at the report launch held at Sambrook’s Brewery in east London on Monday 13 April, report editor Caroline Nodder said: “This is actually an increase for the first time in a few years; it was stationary at 30% for many years. Although it is not a huge increase, it is a positive sign.
“A fifth of SIBA brewers said their owner was female, which is [also] really positive…[and] there are now more women than men actually working in tap rooms.”
Across the wider workforce, the survey recorded 1,866 staff across the participating breweries in 2025, compared with 1,805 staff across 153 breweries the previous year. The average number of employees per brewery remained at 12.
Positive step
Of those surveyed, 64% were working full-time at the start of 2026, down 4% year-on-year.
The age profile of the indie brewing workforce remained broadly stable. Although the proportion of 16–24-year-olds increased slightly from 15% to 16%, despite changes to national insurance and minimum wage costs for young people introduced in April 2025.
Independent breweries also continued to have a younger workforce than the UK average, with 63% aged under 44 and 41% under 34.
Average annual wages in the sector rose to £31,700 last year, an increase of 8.2% on £29,300 in 2024.
Including an average bonus of £3,039, total earnings reached £34,739, remaining below the UK average salary of just over £39,000.
In addition, the report found indie brewers were investing more into new jobs and staff training, with some 786 jobs expected to be created this year, up from 557 last year.
“This is a significant increase…it is a real positive for the sector”, Nodder added. “We’re back up to the kind of numbers you’d have expected three or four years ago”.
