Landlords and brewers in Norfolk have had a mixed reaction to changes to alcohol duty, with smaller producers saying it will be no help at all.
The latest budget was unveiled by Rishi Sunak, chancellor of the exchequer on Wednesday, revealing a host of changes, including a new 50pc business rates discount in 2022-2023 for hospitality for one year and 5pc duty cut on draught beer and cider from containers over 40 litres.
Miranda Hudson, founder of Duration Brewing in West Acre, said the budget “falls short” for craft brewers.
Ms Hudson said one issue was most small brewers only use kegs up to 30 litres.
“The vast majority of us don’t package into that 40-litre size, we make a premium product and it would be too expensive for our supply chain to purchase.
“It’s wholly disappointing, it doesn’t help us or any brewers like us at the smaller end of the industry.
“We work hard to keep the beer world a diverse place and it would be nice to see that reflected in support from our government.”
Ms Hudson said this came on the back of 18 months of hard times for the sector and they continue to suffer from issues like CO2 shortages and difficulties obtaining cardboard and aluminium.
Ms Hudson’s concerns were echoed by Dawn Hopkins, Landlady of the Rose Inn in Norwich and vice-chair for the campaign for pubs (COP).
Ms Hopkins welcomed the business rate relief but said it did little to help people now.
"The budget was disappointing, we would've liked for help with VAT but that's not in there," she said.
Adding: “This budget seems to penalise the smaller, independent, producers while giving help to the large companies that don't really need it.
"It won't help us."
Mike Lorenz, landlord at the Whalebone was more cautiously optimistic.
"It's difficult to understand what's going to happen and when it will happen but It looks like it a lot of it won't change until 2023,” he said.
"Anything that helps on duty and keeps prices down is great news."
Mr Lorenz said it was unlikely the public would see a reduction in costs of a pint and they needed to wait to see what the impact would be.
He hoped the chancellor would consider wider changes to business rates next year, particularly for pubs.
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