Bury St Edmunds Beautiful Beers and Vespers boss, René van den Oort, hits out at the Government for Excise and Duty changes on alcohol

The director of a specialist beer shop and Belgian-style bar in Suffolk has hit out at the Government’s decision on changes to how Excise and Duty is charged on alcoholic beverages.

René van den Oort, of Beautiful Beers in St John’s Street and Vespers Belgian Beer Bar, in St Andrew’s Street South, Bury St Edmunds, posted on social media that he had received more than 30 emails from suppliers raising beer prices before the increases took effect on Tuesday – calling it ‘another own goal’ by the Government that could see inflation increase.

René, whose business also sells more than 450 different beers on its website, explained in a July post what the changes could mean for the firm.

He said: “As we have to declare all imported beers to Customs and Excise, as of August 1 we will have to apply new calculations as to how much duty we have to pay per imported beer. VAT is charged on top of the cost of the beer including duty, which will increase the additional cost even further.”

He added beers between 3.5 and 7.5 per cent would see an increase of around 10 per cent plus VAT except for draught beers, beers between 7.5 and 8.4 per cent would see a reduction of around 12 per cent plus VAT and beers above 8.5 ould see an increase of around 20 per cent plus VAT.

Due to these and other changes, Beautiful Beers said it would have to gradually increase its prices, between August and September.

These could included an average five per cent rise on beers between 3.5 and 8.4 per cent, a 10 per cent one for those 8.5 per cent or higher and a possible 35 to 70 per cent rise for those from small Belgian breweries.

In the post, Rene added: “This will affect us, as a business and our business model, quite drastically and we closely monitor its effect on our business and the buying habits of the general public.

“European beers and especially Belgian beers remain hugely popular and we have seen an increase in sales since the Covid years, however, this may have a detrimental effect on the quantity and frequency customers will buy foreign beers. We will keep you informed on developments.”