Smaller breweries have seen numbers of beer orders fall owing to weaker trading in pubs due to restrictions, which has hit profits.
Over 90% of the sales at Dalston’s 40FT Brewery usually come from supplying London pubs, bars and restaurants. The rest come from its taproom, which has a small outdoor seating area.
40FT co-founder, Steve Ryan, said sales had been “crippled” since the Tier 2 rules came in this month.
He said his team "just want to know” if they are eligible for the new grant. “Because we have a taproom, we might fall into the hospitality element. It’s still unclear.”
Chief executive Charlene Lyons on site (Black Sheep Brewery)
Black Sheep
Ryan, who is “just hoping we can make it to March”, added: “£2100 every month wouldn’t be enough anyway. It would be really helpful, but it wouldn’t cover our overheads.
“We will just have to keep on hustling, but it’s been months of hustling and there are only so many rabbits you can pull out of hats."
The business owner said many breweries are already closing, and t would be wrong to assume the "supply chain are just going to make it through" the Covid-19 crisis.
Black Sheep Brewery is one of the UK's larger independent brewers. Chief Executive, Charlene Lyons, said: “We desperately do need help and support, just like other industries, but no one appears to be taking our pleas seriously."
Many craft brewers have seen their sales plummet since Tier 2 was implemented
40FT
The British Beer and Pub Association welcomed the Chancellor’s package as a lifeline for jobs yesterday, but insisted that "further support was still needed for brewers and those in the supply chain that serve pubs".
This latest round of Government support is being distributed to local authorities who will "determine which businesses are eligible for grant funding in their local areas, and what precise funding to allocate to each business", the Treasury said in a statement.
A Treasury spokesperson highlighted its statement, which reads: "Local Authorities will also receive a 5% top up amount to these implied grant amounts to cover other businesses that might be affected by the local restrictions, but which do not neatly fit into these categories [ie: restaurants and pubs explicitly targeted by the grants].
"It will be up to Local Authorities to determine which businesses are eligible for grant funding in their local areas, and what precise funding to allocate to each business."
