Beer Hour: Andy Slee
Andy Slee, chief executive of Society of Independent Brewers and Associates (SIBA) speaks to Jessica Mason about the challenges indie brewing faces and how showing consideration for people and fairness is always the best course of action.
Ask Slee about his career in the drinks industry and you gain a little insight into how it has shaped his outlook. He’s worked in big and small teams across both beer, soft drinks and hospitality and yet is still a keen listener. He’s stayed humble and many would say ‘true to his roots’ and his family values.
“I am chief executive of the Society of Independent Brewers and Associates (SIBA); we represent 1,000 independent brewers and their suppliers across the UK.” he says proudly. He started in the beer industry as “a barman at the old Doctor Fosters pub in Manchester. I then joined Bass where I sold beer and ran pubs before spending 12 years with Coca Cola. I then moved to Punch Pub company”.
During his tenure in the sector, Slee has also been non-executive director “for several independent brewers before joining SIBA”.
Outlook
But when it comes to beer, he still has a few favourites. “Beer is a personal choice,” he admits and points out that when it comes to what we choose to order at the bar there are “no right or wrong answers”. There’s that fairness shining through. Slee, after all, sees all opinions as valid, especially when it comes to personal preference and perspective. You get the sense that he knows that we learn more about the world by staying attentive. He might be onto something.
When pressed, Slee reveals that he would always “go for lower strength pale ales like Wye Valley Brewery’s HPA or Steerage from Titanic Brewery”. As he puts it, they’re “great beers for any occasion”.
Slee’s outlook on life has been shaped not just by his career path and the lessons he has learned along the way, but the people who he considers to have been his role models. In so many ways, his take on what can be achieved at any point in a person’s life has been inspired by one man. Namely, his grandfather. The venerable patriarch that has become something of a luminary to Slee.
“He graduated from the Open University at 85 years old, having left school at 14 out of economic necessity,” he explains, remembering that “his advice was: ‘always do your best’ and ‘treat others the way you’d like to be treated yourself.’” To this day, Slee upholds this guidance as one of his core values for how to behave, both professionally and personally. As he points out: “If you follow both of those rules you won’t go far wrong.”
Such tenacity has stood Slee in good stead for his role in leading SIBA. Times are tough for the beer sector and while the challenges continue and small brewers get squeezed on price and pushed out of the marketplace, his pragmatic and diligent factual approach to tackling its issues has to be recognised. If anyone deserves recognition for his resolve, perseverance and unequivocal support for the sector, it is Slee. He works hard for the people and businesses he represents, and it shows.
Backing up emotion with facts
But, he admits, there is still so much work to do because “independent brewing has always had a strong emotional argument in its favour” and although he observes that “in the UK we love the underdog” there are few people enacting real change that can garner attention against a system that often takes the path of least resistance. “To get our voice heard we have invested in backing that emotion up with facts,” he says. Granted, he surely wishes it was not a battle that was necessary to fight on a daily basis to simply be heard and considered.
There are, however, a few green shoots for the sector. People want to drink, support, seek out and herald really decent beer and the good people creating it. They seek truth, tangibility, transparency and want to throw their energy into virtue. He explains: “Demand for independent British beer remains good with drinkers wanting to support independent breweries who employ people and pay taxes locally.”
In terms of the realities of the indie beer scene’s longevity, Slee lays his cards on the table and admits that “making profits from that demand will always be challenging whilst we are paying up to 40% of turnover in tax”. Giving context to this reality that independent breweries face, he reiterates how “online businesses pay around 10% tax for me is grossly unfair”.
That said, he knows that people back what they believe in and this gives him hope. After all, “the recent furore over pub business rates shows public opinion is on our side”.
Slee also discloses an extra layer of transparency that isn’t always represented in the national press coverage of the situation. Whether that is because it does not serve a political agenda could be the case, but still he feels like the silence on the subject of fairness and double standards is largely unmet by the government’s disclosure on what is really impacting the fabric of the independent beer industry. One that is steeped in meaning, tradition and values and isn’t just a money game.
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As Slee insists, the realities are being overlooked and the public hears very little about how “independent brewers are also locked out of 60% of pubs by global brewer supply contracts despite 80% of pub-goers wanting a choice between global independent beer”. Is this fair? Can it be rectified? He mulls this and reasserts: “Our ask is simply for fairness in taxation and access to market.”
Slee also points out that more than 70% of what SIBA members brew is sold in pubs and bars and so it is clear how vital the UK on-trade is to the success and prosperity of the industry. He admits that each independent brewery’s beer portfolio’s “success is inexorably linked with theirs”. In essence, he remarks: “This is why we campaigned so hard with them on business rate reform.” Believing in what you do is important. That much he knows.
Listening and learning
Read any newspaper and the troubles all over the world are impacting how the future plays out. People in power have a responsibility to pay attention not just to progress, but also to recognise what gets lost along the way. Could it be that “recent world events seem to be turning the established world order on its head?” Slee admits: “My hope is that our government sees the need to support traditional British business ahead of American owned tech giants when it comes to raising revenue from tax and stimulating investment.”
At the end of the day, he believes that independent beer and the power of the association that supports it is “a sector which can stimulate growth for them very quickly” and insists that “if the hand brake is taken off, SIBA has a strong voice, and growing membership despite fewer breweries” and this can be beneficial. If only the wider industry listened and took note of the positives.
“We work with industry colleagues on areas of mutual interest but pride ourselves in standing up for our members in a robust but constructive way,” he says. How is this achieved? Slee grins and answers with an irrefutably simple response that is grounded in honesty: “By talking to them.”
Sure, it is no easy feat. As he observes, each brewery is different and he reveals: “We have brewers of all shapes, sizes and experience who agree on most things, so we focus on those, rather than dwell on the small things we disagree on.” But, he reminds: “Our 700 brewing members keep us on the straight and narrow and we survey them regularly to make sure we stay on track.” Continual research, checking in and realigning based on responses and learnings seems to be the best course of action.
How does Slee view the task? What values does he live by? He considers this and says: “Along with the life advice from my grandfather, there are a couple of things” he says, the pieces of advice that he leans upon to this day.
“You have two ears and one mouth, so try to use them in that proportion,” he says. Admittedly, he also believes that “good leaders are good listeners” and yet also warns that we would all benefit from listening to people from all walks of life, at all levels and with differing perspectives, because leaders may be great mentors, but “don’t think they have the exclusivity on good ideas”.
Instead, he highlights the benefits of keeping things simple. Picking your battles has become not just a survival instinct, but a necessity for thriving and progressing. As Slee says: “Life is complicated enough as it is without you putting up unnecessary barriers to progress. Learn from the past but always look to the future.”
Values
Is there anything else we should know about the human side of the man representing so many? Not really, but there is no doubt that Slee is a man who thinks of other people before himself. His values show this as he describes how much he appreciates and recognises how he has been supported in turn too. One thing he upholds, we can all relate to as he shows gratitude for the people who have shaped him. “The love of my family” is his first response when asked what he values the most.
If he hopes for any kind of legacy then it is undeniably how much he holds “hope they would think I always tried my best”.
Does he take this human side into his career? Yes, in spades. He admits: “Whether it was work or indulging my love of sport – I try to treat others as I’d like to be treated myself”. Those elements he genuinely holds dear.
Want to know more about the man leading the way for independent brewing? Talk to him on any of these topics: “Family, sport and beer – in that order” and you’ll warm to his pure determination and generosity of spirit. Even if he admits that having values can be a tricky business, especially in “the aftermath of a Stoke City defeat” because, when this is the case, he laughs “sometimes that order is challenged”.
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