Founded in 1980, it was intended to fight the pub-tie system, under which large brewers owned 80% of the UK's pubs.
[1] Under his leadership, SIBA campaigned for 21 years for a progressive beer duty system, where smaller breweries would pay less tax on their products, to be introduced in the UK.
[2] With growing credibility and campaigning success, SIBA has come to represent the broad spectrum of the UK independent brewing sector.
][4] SIBA aims to ensure that its members' products are of high quality, and membership is conditional upon adhering to the Code of Practice and By-Laws.
In December 2003, SIBA launched the Direct Delivery Scheme (DDS) to help small brewers promote, sell and distribute their beers to local pubs, pubcos and retailers.