Oral Answers to Questions

Olly Glover Excerpts

Thursday 11th December 2025 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Olly Glover (Didcot and Wantage) (LD)]

1. What steps he is taking to support small and medium-sized businesses.

[Sally Jameson (Doncaster Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

8. What steps his Department is taking to support SMEs.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Minister of State, Department for Business and Trade (Chris Bryant)]

Without our small businesses, we as a country are nothing, which is why we have published the first small business strategy in 10 years. We are going to change the law to tackle late payment, unlock billions to support businesses to invest, and revitalise the British high street.

[Olly Glover]

Love Beer Brewery in Milton in my Oxfordshire constituency of Didcot and Wantage supplies fantastic ale for events and a number of local pubs. However, its viability is threatened by the freeze of income tax thresholds and the increase in beer duty. Its monthly beer duty costs are now between £1,500 and £2,000, and if its owner did not have a day job, it probably would not be able to survive. In that context, will the Minister say a bit more about what else the Government can do to support small businesses and small breweries such as Love Beer in Milton?

[Chris Bryant]

When I visited those at the de-alcoholisation unit at another brewery, the Budweiser factory just outside Newport, last week, they said that one of the really important things was being able to diversify, because of changing drinking habits in the UK. However, they also want the British Government to focus on making sure that businesses have access to capital and that people pay their bills on time. When we introduce legislation, as we intend to do later this year, which will tackle the problem of late payments, that will make a dramatic difference. It will be the most important piece of legislation in the UK in this field for 25 years.