WORD FROM THE BFBi

Together we can ‘Build Back Better’!

Like the majority of businesses, BFBi has been working with much reduced resource. Being the person currently holding the fort, I have become an expert in Government guidelines/funding/loans etc – anything I can find that might be of help to members and industry. I have developed new skills – social media; zoom and Teams; webinars; design/marketing (currently grappling with how to make animated videos) and, like all of you, have discovered I am more versatile than I thought – I am proof of the old adage - you can teach an old dog new tricks….

All events from the end of March to whenever we are able to meet again are cancelled/postponed but we have made a foray into webinars, thanks to our partnership with member company Lemontop.

Are webinars and virtual meetings the way forward? They certainly work for the short term – where would we have been without them? But, permanently? I don’t think so. Many of us (including me) are zoomed out and hankering for some physical face-toface contact. I believe that it is a different brain process used when physically attending an event. There is greater ability benefit from something that comes out of what appeared to be idle chit-chat, to switch on the creative/out of the box aspects of our psyche. I am sure you have all, like me, found a day full of digital meetings truly mentally exhausting but not necessarily in a productive way.

One thing Coronavirus has shown us is that, if Governments and businesses work together, we are stronger. BFBi’s original strapline was “Union in Strength” now communicated as “stronger together”. Never has that message been so strong. Sitting in on the daily CBI webinars, much of the proposed strategies discussed by their business leaders involve collaboration and partnership.

Do I think we will come out of Coronavirus stronger? Some sectors already are – the packaging sector has had a very positive experience. Some sectors may not – dispense sector, the “invisible” sector, was challenged with very low margins and long payment terms before Coronavirus – I can only hope that this small, niche but extremely important sector gains the level of appreciation it deserves and is SEEN.

Something I learned the other day is that there are 5 types of business during Coronavirus:

• HIBERNATORS (28%) either through choice or inflicted

• SURVIVORS (32%) - working at 20- 30% turnover

• PIVOTERS (21%) - made changes to business to adapt to new conditions

• THRIVERS (6%) - thriving in the current crisis

• AS BEFORE (12%) - coronavirus has not impacted their business

Which one are you? What do you/we need to do to ensure you are a Thriver?

I hear that one of the outcomes of COVID will likely be a high level of unemployment not seen since the early 1980s – between 8-10%, geared towards young females (hardest hit sectors believed to be travel/retail and hospitality).

As part of the “Build Back Better” agenda, as well as restarting to a greener, more sustainable strategy, we need to ensure that the country’s recovery package recognises the need to invest equally in women and to recognise that quality is as important as price. At the point of writing Government is in receptive mode so we should all shout out to ensure we do truly build back better.

What have I learned? That you can teach an old dog new tricks; that, no matter how much I bang on doors, shout and rant, nobody sees the cellar services/dispense sector (didn’t realise that the cellar and dispense system is “peripheral” to the pub – like to see it serve draught beer without it); that a supply chain has a supply chain has a supply chain…… (so, when you are lobbying for support for your industry and/or sector I would ask that you add just three words – “and supply chain” because without you your suppliers cannot survive and, equally, without your supply chain neither can you). I have also learned that there is only so much conversation one can have with a cat. As I write, I am raising a glass of a locally brewed beer, purchased online, to the day we can all meet up again in a safe socialised environment that facilitates vertical drinking (didn’t even know that was a term until a couple of weeks ago). Whichever beer festival opens first, I will be there.

Before signing off I want to pay my respects and those of the entire BFBi membership to Roger Ryman. A great brewer, respected by all who knew him. He was a believer in sustainable relationships – by which I mean he believed in engaging with his suppliers. Buying on quality as well as value. A great supporter of BFBi and the International Brewing Awards. Roger – you are hugely missed but you will not be forgotten (further news to follow).

Ruth Evans MBE, BFBi C.E.O.

Established in 1907, BFBi’s membership represents the entire value chain supplying the brewing and beverage industry – from seed geneticists through raw materials, brewhouse and process equipment to dispense, point-ofsale and brewers/distillers. The Association’s objective is to be the foremost trade association providing opportunities for its Members to develop within the brewing, food & beverage industry.

As well as offering many benefits and services to suppliers of raw materials, process and packaging machinery, dispense and point of sale products, BFBi is a Trade Challenge Partner for various overseas exhibitions and owner and organiser of the oldest international brewing and cider Awards in the world.