Not since the Government issued the Supply of Beer Orders in 1989 has there been so much activity in the brewing industry as there has been at the beginning of the third Millennium. Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) is now the only major national brewer to retain its own estate (even this is steadily being offloaded as pressure from the City suggests that the company focuses solely on brewing), while both Whitbread and Bass have quit brewing altogether. The former prefers to concentrate on its leisure interests and the latter on its hotels, while smaller regional brewers are closing regularly or being swallowed up by larger operations.

Not since the Government issued the Supply of Beer Orders in 1989 has there been so much activity in the brewing industry as there has been at the beginning of the third Millennium. Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) is now the only major national brewer to retain its own estate (even this is steadily being offloaded as pressure from the City suggests that the company focuses solely on brewing), while both Whitbread and Bass have quit brewing altogether. The former prefers to concentrate on its leisure interests and the latter on its hotels, while smaller regional brewers are closing regularly or being swallowed up by larger operations.

Declining volumes of ale and stout - although expected to register a small increase in 2002 - can be attributed to changes in drinking habits, repertoire drinking and the growth in popularity of wine and flavoured alcoholic beverages (FABs), among others. Even stout has struggled to maintain its status in the face of increased competition from other drinks categories: in Ireland, consumption has reportedly fallen for the first time in history. Mintel has therefore chosen to examine the hypothesis that: "Brewers must strive to target a new audience if they are to compete effectively with lager and newer drinks such as FABs."

Other Mintel reports of relevance include:

- Special Report, Is Britain a Nation of Drinkers? 2002

- Special Report, British Lifestyles 2002

- Flavoured Alcoholic Beverages, Market Intelligence - UK Report, October 2001

- Lager, Market Intelligence - UK Report, June 2001

- Impact of Cross-Channel Shopping on the UK Alcohol Market, Market Intelligence - UK Report,

June 2001

- Attitudes Towards Drinking, Market Intelligence - UK Report, March 2002

and the forthcoming:

- Organic Alcoholic Drinks, Market Intelligence - UK Report, September 2002.