CAMRA attacks Carlsberg’s decision to close Leeds brewery

Beer consumer group the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has attacked the decision by Carlsberg to close it's Tetley Brewery in Leeds by 2011.

CAMRA has hit back at Carlsberg for failing to promote the famous Tetley beers at a time when it says consumer interest in real ales is growing.

Bob Stukins, CAMRA vice chairman and director of brewery campaigning, said: "It is unclear where Carlsberg UK intends to brew the famous Tetley beers which remain household names in the UK. Brewed outside their Leeds heartland I fear they would lack the provenance which today's discerning consumers expect.

"While we recognise the enormous challenges facing the brewing industry at present, I think this is a shortsighted decision. Recent statistics clearly show that real ale is performing better than other beer styles in a declining market. There is an opportunity to respond to this, invest in the Tetley brands and bring them back to glory."

The Intelligent Choice report published in September by CAMRA, Cask Marque, SIBA, the IFBB and Why Handpull shows that real ale sales are moving towards growth, while the overall beer market has declined by 8% in the year to May 2008.

CAMRA is calling on the Government to overturn its decision to increase beer duty over the next four years to give struggling breweries a chance to compete. The group claims that high beer tax is driving beer drinkers out of pubs and into their armchairs as the price gap between the on and off-trade widens.

Stukins said: "The Government has a responsibility to act to save British jobs in brewing and pubs and an urgent review of beer tax is required."

CAMRA says it is now seeking a meeting with Carlsberg bosses to discuss a way forward for the brewery and says that it will be looking at "every possible option" in order to save it.

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Ian Cowling said:

Thank goodness for the Yorkshire micro-breweries which are still able to supply us with Yorkshire ales, as well as preserving Yorkshire jobs. This must have been in the planning for years; you don’t just close a brewery of that magnitude down because of the credit crunch or falling beer sales. In fact, figures released only yesterday from Siba (Society of Independent Breweries a*sociation) stated that sales of real ale were up 8% for the first half of this year. How ironic, as well, that real ale has featured in two prime time television programmes recently – Yorskhire’s Best Pint, and Risky Business (the C4 programme with Neil Morrissey and Richard Fox) – while the BBC is soon to air James May and Oz Clarke Big Beer Adventure.

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November 05, 2008
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