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. 48
Pub campaigning