A freeze on alcohol prices in the "mini-budget" has received mixed reactions from the industry, with one distillery manager branding it "too little too late".
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced in the Commons: "Our drive to modernise also extends to alcohol duties.
"I have listened to industry concerns about the ongoing reforms. I will therefore introduce an 18-month transitional measure for wine duty.
“I will also extend draught relief to cover smaller kegs of 20 litres and above, to help smaller breweries. And, at this difficult time, we are not going to let alcohol duty rates rise in line with RPI.
“So I can announce that the planned increases in the duty rates for beer, for cider, for wine, and for spirits will all be cancelled.”
According to the Government, the tax cut will save the consumer 7p on a pint of beer, 4p on a pint of cider, 38p on a bottle of wine, and £1.35 on a bottle of spirits.
Read more: How will mini-budget announcements affect UK households?
Sandra Wilkinson is landlady of the Grey Horse pub in Consett which was visited by Mr Kwarteng in July last year, when he was Business Secretary.
She said: "It's right that they need to modernise things, so fingers crossed it's a step in the right direction, that they're finally listening to the small pubs in the industry instead of just what the big boys want.
"The energy bills are going up, they're going to be massive on everybody this winter, the spiralling costs of everything, so every little helps to close the increase margins down a little bit.
"It helps protect the customers' pockets as well as ours. They've minimising the impact which has to be acknowledged."
She said of Kwarteng's visit to the pub and Consett Ale Works brewery on the site: "He came across genuinely interested when we met him. He seemed to take it on board what people thought about the industry.
"He seemed to care about the family impact. He seemed to fact everything in."
Elly Bell, owner and head brewer of the Durham Brewery, said: "It's great because it means we don't have to put prices up again.
"It's a relief that no further pressure is going to be put into the industry."
She spoke of pubs cutting hours amid the rising costs of heating, lighting, fuel and materials: "They can't afford to be open, in a nutshell, so they're cutting their opening times.
"Although we're trying to keep our prices down as well as we can, we've had to have some price increases and obviously that makes it even more difficult for those independent pubs, which are the ones I think we should be supporting at the moment.
"We'll be able to hold our prices down. They'll have to go up a little bit but they won't have to go up as far."
Read more: Mini budget and income tax - 5 things Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced
Not everyone was convinced. Wayne Richardson, managing director of the Newton Aycliffe-based Herbal Gin Company and Aviator Gin Bar, said: "It's too little too late.
"They didn't control the inflation when they could have controlled it because they were too busy squabbling over who was going to be the next Prime Minister, and the energy companies could do whatever they wanted.
"Freezing the alcohol duty, you might as well because the tax cuts I can see only benefit the rich anyway. They don't benefit the working man. I think it's smoke and mirrors.
"I know a lot of pubs not on a fixed rate, the (energy) costs have gone through the roof, lots of people are handing their keys back.
Read more: Mini-budget 2023 LIVE - Kwasi Kwarteng unveils big TAX changes
"Saving 7p on a pint, whoop-de-doo," he said witheringly.
"It doesn't make any difference at all because everyone's costs have gone up.
"Freezing the duty will not do anything for pubs at all. It will do nothing for the small pubs.
"I project that we're going to lose 30% of our British pubs, easily.
"I lay the blame squarely at the feet of the government. They were asleep on duty. I've never been so embarrassed as a citizen of this country to have them lot in charge."
Read next:
- New energy storage facility to be built near Thinford in County Durham
- Asda petrol station in Peterlee wants to sell alcohol
- Another row breaks out over plan for County Durham £3bn devolution deal
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