After a difficult decade - and a punitive five years under the beer duty escalator policy - the fortunes of British pubs may finally be turning around, which might make it the ideal time to invest in new pub furniture as publicans' financial situations continue to improve.
The British Beer & Pub Association says overall UK beer sales grew in 2014 by 1.3%, the first positive change year-on-year in a decade, and the on-trade is seeing its trading conditions improve gradually too.
Off-trade sales including supermarkets were up 3.5% over the year, and the on-trade saw beer sales drop by 0.8%, but the BBPA points out that this is the smallest decline since 1996, making it still a cause for cautious optimism.
The gradually improving picture could be helped further in March, as the BBPA is challenging the Chancellor to drop beer duty once again, making a hat-trick of tax cuts for the sector.
At present, Britons drink roughly an eighth of all beer served in the EU; however, the level of alcohol duty in the UK means that we pay 40% of all the tax raised on pints (or half-litres) served in Europe.
BBPA chief executive Brigid Simmonds said: "British beer is back in growth - and we want to keep it that way. But with 70% of pub drink sales being beer, the picture for our much-loved pubs is still fragile.
"That is why another duty cut from the Chancellor is vital. It will build on the success of two very popular tax cuts in the past two years."
It is worth noting that duty cuts don't just mean more money going into publicans' coffers to spend on replacing pub furniture with new and comfortable sofas and chairs.
The BBPA's figures show that for every job created or preserved in brewing, 21 other jobs are created or safeguarded, including 18 in pubs, one in retail, one in agriculture and one in the supply chain.
Overall, nearly a million UK jobs are supported by the beer and pub sector, and 46% of these are positions held by young people aged between 16 and 24 years old.