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News round-up (pub and brewery trade news)
CRUMBS!
ristram Stuart of the charity Feedback has gone into
Tpartnership with the Hackney Brewery to produce a beer
made with stale breadcrumbs. The main aim is to draw
attention to excessive waste: an astounding 24 million slices
of bread are thrown away every day in the UK. It is a serious
beer. Called Toast Ale and available in 330 ml bottles,
toasted breadcrumbs are added to conventional ingredients
to make a 5% ABV pale ale with bitterness from Centennial,
Cascade and Bramling Cross hops being balanced by
caramel notes from the toasted crumbs. A donation is made
to Feedback for each bottle sold.
CHANGES AT GREENE KING
im Bridge will retire from Greene King in May after
Talmost 50 years’ service with the company, the last eleven
as chairman. He is the last descendent of the founding
Greene and King families to be involved with the company.
His successor will be Phillip Yeo, described as a ‘City
heavyweight’ who, when finance director of Guinness, was
instrumental in organising the merger with Grand
Metropolitan to form Diageo.
Greene King have upset a number of their former Spirit
Group licensees by de-listing several competing ‘national’
brands such as Doom Bar and London Pride. You can
understand why a brewery would prefer to sell its own beers
but it does not show much respect of the preferences of the
customer.
LIVE LONG AND PROSPER
im Bridge’s retirement led to Nick Goodway of the
TEvening Standard to observe that there are a number of
chief executives in the pub and brewery trade who stay in
post for much longer than is usual in business. Greene
King’s Rooney Anand has been in post for 11 years,
Jonathan Neame, of Shepherd Neame, obviously, for 12,
Stephen Goodyear of Young’s for 13 and Ralph Findlay of
Marston’s for 15. Most of them have much longer overall
service with their companies. John Hutson, chief executive
of J D Wetherspoon, has been alongside Tim Martin for 25
years. Contrast this with Mitchells & Butlers who have got
through around a dozen chief executives in the last 15 years.
Compare this also with the performance of their shares.
There is something to be said for stability.
MAJOR J C BARTHOLOMEW
his is an appropriate point to mark the passing at the
Tgrand old age of 95 of Major John Cairns Bartholomew,
the former chairman of the Wadworth Brewery. He
succeeded his father, John Bartholomew, as chairman in
1952 and held the post for 46 years. His father was the son
of John Smith Bartholomew who formed the founding
partnership with Henry Alford Wadworth. Known by
everyone at the brewery as the Major, according to the Daily
Telegraph, from a young age, his ambitions in life were to
lead the Avon Vale hunt, run the brewery and command the
Wiltshire Yeomanry. It was only the last of these that he did
not achieve although he had a fine war record.
It was his idea, in 1974, to bring back dray horses and he
was duly proud when in May 2004 Prince Philip visited
Devizes and took the reins to mark 30 years of their
reintroduction.
HIPPO HOORAY
ippo Inns, Rupert Clevely’s joint venture with Enterprise,
Hhas opened its second London site, the George in
Crossharbour, E14. A further three sites will follow during
the year: the Duke of Sussex in Waterloo (one of my old
darts pubs), the Kingston Gate in Kingston which will revert
to its original name of the Black Horse and the Round
Midnight bar at the Angel which will be renamed the
Islington Town House.
CRAFT IN CROYDON
he Craft Beer Co is to open an outlet in Croydon. They
Thave acquired a site on the Boxpark development, a
scheme based around old shipping containers, which is
expected to open in June.
MERRY MARSTON’S
urious this. Marston’s had a very good Christmas with
Csales up 6%. Chief executive Ralph Findlay put this
down to people leaving London for the holiday. He
explained, “It was a fortnight’s holiday for many people.
That meant lots of people went home for a fair while and
that’s where out pubs are”.
Marston’s are continuing to work on operating a number
of their pubs as franchises as opposed to the traditional
tenanted and managed models.
BURGERED
urger King has been denied alcohol licences for its
Boutlets on Victoria and Paddington stations. Not
surprisingly, there was strong opposition from the police. It
has secured a licence for its branch in Bury St Edmunds
however.
Tony Hedger
London LocAle scheme
The following pubs have joined or rejoined the London LocAle scheme since the last issue of London Drinker:
North Pole 188-190 New North Road, Islington, N1 7BJ Hammerton, Kew, Redemption
Railway Tavern 45 East Street, Bromley, BR1 1QQ Volden, others
Talbot 2 Tyrwhitt Road, SE4 1QG Brockley
The following pub has left the scheme:
Black Heart
3 Greenland Place, Camden Town, NW1 0AP
The complete list is maintained at www.london.camra.org.uk.
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