Some independent thinking

Is the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) gaining a bigger voice in the industry?

Former chairman Keith Bott raised the profile of the organisation with some considerable success. My brief (Julian was made SIBA's first chief executive last August) is quite simple - to make the SIBA the voice of the quality independent brewer.

So do you see yourselves as more than the voice of the microbrewer, which is how you tend to be portrayed?​

We do have a problem over recognition. When SIBA was formed in 1980 it was known as the Small Brewers Association.

When the original 10,000 barrel a year cap on membership became a problem we removed it and changed our name to the Society of Independent Brewers. Despite best intentions there is no doubt this name change has served to confuse people in the media and beyond.

But we are the only voice for producers in the industry and we don't wish to be just seen as a microbrewers organisation. To me any company that brew its beers in-house is open to be a member of SIBA. We have members who are not brewers of cask conditioned ale - such as Meantime in Greenwich.

With that in mind can SIBA have more influence in political circles?​

Bigger companies are just beginning to recognise our growing political clout and they can see by joining us they can add to it.

Eighty-five per cent of what we make is draught. That means we have a serious voice in the pub industry. I think we have come of age as an organisation. We are now more than the representatives of small companies on the fringes of the industry - we are the backbone of ale production in the UK.

But has the introduction of progressive beer duty (PBD) damaged these ambitions? The duty has polarised opinion in the industry leaving you seen as the representative of the microbrewer.​

For 20 years SIBA's main campaign has been PBD. And by far and away it is the biggest thing the organisation has ever done. Our membership does contain people who are very anti-PBD but opponents of PBD are missing the point. The health of this sector is good for the health of the whole traditional British brewing industry.

A criticism from opponents of PBD is that new micros are not using the money gained from the tax break to invest in their business. Is that still fair?​

I've seen some very good brand activity and it works wonders for these brewers.

Look at the award-winning work by the Purity Brewery. You can see the increased profile that a good marketing campaign gives you - but that can only be of true benefit if your quality is top notch in the first place.

We are developing quality audits and the accreditation side of the organisation as we speak. Perhaps this is something our larger members can help us with. Cross-pollination of big and small companies is a great thing in an organisation.

What are the big challenges going forward for 2008?​

Economic factors are obviously a big challenge for us going forward - from duty to the raw materials crisis.

I think people are underestimating the seriousness of the latter issue. There may well be serious supply issues later this year - certain hop varieties may not be available to anyone.There is also the massive problem regarding cask recovery. There is a growing enthusiasm among bigger brewers for deposits to be put down on casks.

And I think we need to have a bigger voice in the social responsibility debate. Brewers like ours are part of the solution not the problem. If I really believed the products I have helped brew and that I now represent were a serious contributory factor to the problems that we face as a society then I would not be in the industry. I am proud of this industry.

The problems that exist in the on-trade are to do with a few licensees not taking their licences seriously enough. But the best place for people to drink quality products in a reasonable manner is in the pub where there are better methods of social control on what you do.