Coventry Brewery Owner “Amazed” by Public Response After Sales Decline

The proprietor of a brewery, who resorted to a social media appeal following several weeks of sluggish business, expressed being “absolutely amazed” by the public’s reaction. Ritchie Bosworth, owner of The Twisted Barrel located in FarGo Village, Coventry, issued a public appeal on November 1st, urging individuals to patronize his small enterprise. Through a Facebook post, he stated that October represented the “single worst month” for the brewery in nearly a decade. He elaborated, “We hit the first week of October and suddenly 15% of our business disappeared overnight. Five weeks later and it still hadn’t picked up.” Mr. Bosworth informed the BBC that the establishment had experienced diminished sales for approximately four to five weeks prior to his choice to launch the social media appeal. He commented, “It’s always a hard decision of whether to say something when business is bad because you don’t know if that’s going to make the situation better or worse really.” He further described, “There were literally times in October where they were stood in an empty room for two or three hours and not a single customer was walking through the door.” Mr. Bosworth commended the public’s reaction to his post, stating that the assistance and benevolence received had been “overwhelming.” He elaborated, “It’s been lovely to see people kind of recognise the issue, and hopefully it will go some way to raising awareness of the difficulties that the sector’s having at the moment.” Mr. Bosworth expressed his desire for public awareness regarding the brewery’s predicament and mentioned that other businesses experiencing similar challenges had reached out to him. He remarked, “When other businesses started contacting us saying ‘yeah that’s the same situation we’re in’, we start to get a better understanding. And then it’s not just us.” Commenting on the government’s recent Budget, which incorporates modifications to business rates relief, Mr. Bosworth further stated that the increase in national insurance (NI) would “hurt.” In an effort to assist small businesses with the NI increase, the chancellor announced that the employment allowance would also be elevated from £5,000 to £10,500. Additionally, the government plans to implement permanently reduced business rates for the retail, hospitality, and leisure industries starting from the 2026/27 fiscal year.