ANOTHER FINE MESS!

Pubs will be forced to add 8.2p to a pint of beer, and 10p to cider, after Wednesday's bombshell Budget.

That's according to industry estimates after the Chancellor extended the duty escalator for beer, wine and spirits — forcing duty rises of 2% above inflation — by a further two years until 2015.

This equates to a 5% rise on beer this year, or 8.2p at the bar, says the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA).

Cider fared even worse, with duty up 13% — to address a tax "anomaly" — and with plans for even higher tax for stronger ciders. The cost of an average cider in the pub could go up 10p, according to the National Association of Cider Makers (NACM).

The rises, which take effect from Sunday, will "drive price-conscious customers away from pubs", said Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers chief Nick Bish.

BBPA chief executive Brigid Simmonds said: "This latest beer tax hike piles on the misery for Britain's hard-pressed pubs and drinkers.

"Since 2008, beer tax has increased by an eye-watering 26% — a £761m rise — and we've seen the loss of 4,000 pubs and over 40,000 jobs up and down the country. Beer sales are down £650m in the past year alone."

NACM chair Henry Chevallier said the "dramatic" cider duty hike "could well reverse the growth we have generated in recent years".

The Society of Independent Brewers slated the beer duty hikes, but welcomed the rise in cider duty because it creates "a more level playing field".

Campaign for Real Ale chief executive Mike Benner said the Budget is "a charter for supermarkets who irresponsibly promote alcohol as a loss leader at the expense of pubs and real ales".

Small business help​

Elsewhere, there was more encouraging news. Business rates will be cut for smaller businesses for one year from October, benefitting 500,000 firms.

For hosts struggling to secure loans, there's promise of a legally-binding credit adjudication service for companies denied financing.

A new agreement with the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds means they will lend £94bn — at least half to small and medium-sized firms — in the next 12 months. David Grant, of Christie Finance, hoped it would "end the inertia that's plagued the market in the past two years".

The time-to-pay scheme, which lets small and medium-sized businesses spread tax payments, will be extended for the whole of the next Parliament.

And there will be a £2.5bn one-off package of measures to help small firms in skills and innovation.