In the UK some years ago as I understand it (while Gordon Brown was chancellor), the tax requirements for alcohol producers were relaxed, so that breweries prod

In the UK some years ago as I understand it (while Gordon Brown was chancellor), the tax requirements for alcohol producers were relaxed, so that breweries producing less than a certain amount (measured in litres per year) were subject to lower tax regime. As far as I know, this relates to the entire output of the corporation group, so if a smaller brewery is bought by a larger chain, they would move to the higher taxation group. In recent years even though I don't drink alcohol myself I have noticed that 'locally produced' beers have become much more prevalent in the supermarkets and I presume that means a lot of small business owners are doing ok at least.