Chairman’s comment Ian Fozard looks back at his three years in office

A farewell from our Chairman

This is my final column as SIBA’s Chair as, by the time that you read this, I will have completed my maximum three year term of office and the Board will have elected a new Chair. It therefore seems appropriate to reflect on the last three years which, for me, seem to have passed extremely quickly.

My first thought is that this is the fourth consecutive quarterly column that I have written with the uncertainty of not knowing when our industry will stop being adversely affected by Government enforced lockdown? Today, as I write this on the eve of pubs being permitted to serve indoors again, we still do not have a definate date for all restrictions to be lifted, and my iPad has just flashed a message saying that the Health Secretary “cannot rule out” further local lockdowns! I sincerely hope that when you read this, we will know for sure what is happening and that all brewers will be able to look forward with optimism for their businesses. During my term of office SIBA has changed immensely – not all my doing I hasten to add! I’d like to think that SIBA is better positioned than it was to meet the challenges we all face as we move out of lockdown into a new and somewhat different world. Firstly, we have a newly refreshed and younger Board – around half of the Board have been elected within the last 12 months and most of the remainder have joined the Board within the last three years. Whilst it could be argued that the Board has lost much experience, my personal view is that this change was overdue, and I sincerely hope that my new Board colleagues will get involved in helping SIBA become even more relevant to our members in the coming months. I know that we have some good new intellect on the Board who will not be afraid to challenge the status quo! Secondly, we have a much more focussed and lean management team under the leadership of James Calder. James is due to present his new five year strategy to our AGM on 9th June and will set out for members the key areas that he and the team will be focussing on as we brewers try to navigate the difficult waters ahead. In my view, SIBA needs to strive to constantly become more relevant to our members and James will set out how he proposes to achieve this along with SIBA’s new priorities for the years ahead.

The last three years have, to some extent, been over-shadowed by a bitter division within our industry about reform of Small Breweries’ Relief. The Government mishandling of this in their announcement last summer has not helped. We do not yet know when the Treasury will announce the outcome of its Technical Consultation – let us hope that when it does come it will show some sense and that SIBA’s lobbying on behalf of members who would be adversely affected has been effective. Independent brewers desperately need to move on - united to face the many other challenges ahead. Let us also hope that the Government Alcohol Duty review produces some positive news about tax on beer which is disgracefully high compared to other equivalent alcoholic drinks and to other countries. Our sector continues to be threatened by the behaviour of larger global and national drinks companies with their market distorting behaviour. In addition, the constant sniping of the anti-alcohol lobby and the ongoing spectre of new legislation which could disproportionately impact on smaller brewers such as Deposit Return Schemes and labelling requirements are of continuing concern. SIBA is the only body able to represent smaller independent brewers and I hope that James and his team can persuade some of the brewers who have historically eschewed SIBA membership to come on board. It is perhaps fashionable for some to assert that SIBA is not relevant to them, yet I strongly believe that the only way of effectively influencing Government over the issues we all face is for the industry to come together to form one more powerful voice. That is where you, our existing membership can help! If we all strive to recruit one new member SIBA’s voice will be much more powerful. I have mostly enjoyed my three year term of office – there have been some difficult challenges but overall, it has been an experience I wouldn’t have wanted to miss. I hope that I have made a difference and that I leave SIBA in a better place. I wish my successor Roy Allkin good fortune and I will continue to support SIBA as a Board member representing the North East region.

Cheers

It has been an experience I wouldn’t have wanted to miss. I hope that I have made a difference and that I leave SIBA in a better place.

Ian Fozard