best served [in the] cold as the Winter Sun sets ?!?

What's Up? I had a few days away. Always recommended to clear the head. Having had a January of two halves (1H good, 2H dreadful), I was getting a little frustrated with a conundrum I couldn't quite get to the bottom of, so it was good to step out and take stock and come back with some renewed perspective. The crew did great in my absence, selling, delivering and brewing a lot of beer. Shows the art of the possible when I am not about and interfering!

One thing I would note is that whilst as usual Moondance was the best seller followed by Alton's Pride [usually combined around 68% of sales] is that we sold almost as much Winter Sunset as we did Alton's Pride. It will go very well in the cold snap coming up... so if you want some just shout, I reckon we have two to three weeks of stock of it left, but when it is gone it is gone. What's On? Old Dray is back! Our ALL-ENGLISH beer... English Barley Malt, English Hops, English Yeast, English Water, English Brewer (!), English Recipe... I probably shouldn't make quite so much of the "English" aspect of it as it might put non-English that haven't tasted it off trying... but take it from me as a Scotsman, if you like excellent traditional ale then this should fit the bill! So should you buy some? Yes [but honesty call] is if you can bring yourself to wait maybe do it in 10 days time. This one only gets better...

What's about? We've had our local MP - Damian Hinds - reach out to us to see how dreadful our rates impact is (north of 30%). As a business we are not political, [regardless of our own individual beliefs], but we really appreciate his concern for businesses in his constituency. You may agree/disagree with his political leanings but if even half the folks in Westminster had his level of concern for the lifeblood of Britain that is small businesses we would be in a much better place. Thank you Damian for reaching out. As we have mentioned many times - please keep the pressure on your local MP in the case you are not as lucky as we have been to have ours reach out to us. The "help" given by the government thus far is only them really deciding not to do something that would have been catastrophic - that isn't the same as helping.

I was in France over the past week... I mention that not to rub it in, I get I was lucky - but because it clearly shines a light on VAT. Yes they have a horrible top line of 20% but they have a 10% break for hospitality. They also let you reclaim VAT on goods bought there so it was (apparently according to Mrs. G) cheaper to shop in France than England [ouch]. Unusual to have something separate for hospitality right? No! Spain, Italy and the Czecs have a 10% level. The Irish? Well, top o' the mornin' ta yas - 9%. The hard-working Poles? 8%. The joke-cracking, hard to be serious for a second Germans? 7%. Even the taxed to bits Nordics get it - Finland (with normal VAT at 25.5%) goes to 13.5%, the Swedes (also 25%) at 12%. Denmark doesn't do anything for hospitality and has its VAT at 25%... and err around 36% of its citizens head to next door Sweeden to eat, drink, be merry and do some grocery shopping - your loss Denmark. The mantra - even from CAMRA and SIBA - is "oh the government can't afford to reduce VAT on hospitality". I'm calling total bullshit on that. Please, please keep the pressure on and as have said before do consider using your social media channels to really pump out folks who have already been hard in the Parliamentary eye (like Matt @ the Wonston - or any others you see who are really on it) - we'll certainly shout out anything you say on the matter - just let us know or tag us or whatever works best for you.

Lower VAT for hospitality?

= Lower cost for customers/helps working people/better affordability

= Helps pubs survive, improves community cohesiveness - even helps house prices

= Job creation... yeah Rachel - wait until May before you see the pain here - stats already going the wrong way

= Sector growth (growth eh? Now that would be a thing!)

= Better tourism/local money multipliers etc... Gee that box of tricks sounds awful - why would you do that Rachel??

I do think there is some political momentum our way - we just need to keep pressing home on it. In term of pressing - the second ask we have of you aside from keep on at Westminster - is to make sure your customers have some really fffabulous beer next week.

What can we bring you? Some Moondance? Some Alton's Pride? Some Winter Sunset? Some Black Velvet? Something else?! Have a terifffic weekend, Xen P.S. So it is the Calcutta Cup this coming weekend and having seen Scotland defeated by Italy I am not optimistic they can keep up their recent record against England... made me look up some quotes on being Scottish... I resemble some of these! But all the same "Come on Scotland!" And hope that Rugby is the Winner and the games are great for your trade.

The Billy Connolly Classic: "Scotland is the only country in the world that does a lap of disgrace". The Optimist: A Scotland fan dies and goes to heaven. He asks God, "Will I see Scotland win the World Cup in my lifetime?" God replies, "Not in mine, son" [actually maybe Scotland will win the football in Mexico-USA 2026? Bookies think not though with it as 99.6% chance against!] The Medical Condition: "Supporting Scotland is like having a chronic illness—you don't expect to be cured, you just hope for a few manageable days between the agonising flare-ups." [seems so!] The Definition of Hope: "Hope is a wonderful thing. It’s that tiny voice in your head telling you that this time, they won't lose to a last-minute goal in a game they were dominating" [could apply to Liverpool or any other team I support at the moment TBF!] The Classic '78 Reference: After the disastrous 1978 World Cup, Billy Connolly famously joked: "Ally MacLeod thinks that tactics are a new kind of mint". [after last week could also apply to Gregor Townsend!] Bon weekend. X