Brewing at the time of COVID: the impact of the pandemic crisis on UK craft breweries and its implications for the sector and local economies

Abstract

The COVID-19 crisis has had a significant impact on UK craft breweries. In this paper we explore and assess the impact of COVID-19 on the UK craft beer sector from a locational perspective, targeting entrepreneurial responses from breweries within and across the urban, suburban and rural dimensions. Using a mix of quantitative and qualitative data collected between 2015 and 2022, we identify a marked geographical contextualization in terms of how UK craft breweries adapted and responded to the pandemic crisis, which explains how location shaped and still shape breweries’ strategies in a post-COVID-19 ‘new normal’ world.