SIBA, the Society of Independent Brewers, was established in 1980 to represent the interests of the growing number of independent breweries in Britain. SIBA was instrumental in campaigning for Progressive Beer Duty (PBD), which came into place in 2002. This beer duty system allows smaller breweries to pay less tax on their products and has led to an explosion of new breweries in the last decade. PBD still plays a major role in the Britain’s vibrant beer market. SIBA’s membership survey recently highlighted how important PBD is to their business with 70% stressing that PBD in at least its current format is ’vital’ to their business, with an additional 24% highlighting this as ‘very important’ or ‘important’. SIBA currently represents more than 825 independent craft breweries and our vision is ‘to deliver the future of British beer and become the voice of British brewing.’ What is SIBA trying to achieve? SIBA launched a three year Strategic Plan in March 2015. To help achieve the vision ‘to deliver the future of British beer and become the voice of British brewing’, SIBA highlighted four strategic aims: Promote and campaign for our members Provide and enhance commercial opportunities Grow and develop our membership Develop our capability It is paramount for SIBA to increase its number of brewing members. This improved representation of the independent beer market will help the association have more influence when lobbying politicians. SIBA BeerFlex scheme creates and manages flexible solutions for the on and off-trade that achieve access to market for the SIBA membership. This includes working on solutions for pub cos, online retailers and the export market. For more information on SIBA’s three year plans, please visit siba.co.uk/strategicplan.