Mine's a Pint - Summer 2019

Magic Rock Brewery Sold
Continuing the trend of
UK craft breweries being
bought out and taken
over by multinational
companies. Magic Rock
of Huddersfield is now
part of Lion Global
Markets. Australian
company Lion, who also acquired London’s
Fourpure Brewery last year, bought the
company for an undisclosed sum.
Magic Rock’s co-founder and managing
director, Richard Burhouse, intends to stay on
with the company in the long term. The deal
is intended to allow Magic Rock to expand
its reach, production and portfolio, as well as
bring in new business skills.
In a blog post, Richard said:
“While there’s never been a plan to sell the
business, we’ve had a number of approaches
over the past few years, but none of them felt
like a good fit until we started talking with
Lion. Lion first approached us back in August
2018 and we were immediately impressed with
their ambition, pedigree and approach to beer.”
“The only changes we foresee will be for the
better. I’m delighted to announce that Lion are
committed to beer production in Huddersfield
for the long-term and there’ll be no cost-cutting;
on the contrary there’ll be an increase in our
commitment to the quality and innovation
characterises our beers.”
“The production site expansion will encompass
the leasing of additional units adjacent to our
Huddersfield site. We’ll be installing a state
of the art automated brewhouse and enough
additional tank capacity to massively increase
capacity. There’ll also be improvements to
our infrastructure including new offices, lab,
quality control and sensory departments.”
Review of Pubs Code and
Adjudicator
Small business minister Kelly Tolhurst MP has
revealed that the Government has launched its
first statutory review of the pubs code and pubs
code adjudicator. CAMRA has been calling for
a review for some time following increasing
evidence of tenants being treated unfairly by
large pub companies.
The pubs code and pubs code adjudicator were
set up in 2016 and were supposed to secure a
fair environment for pub tenants and operators.
Since then various organisations have cast
doubt on the independence and decisions of the
adjudicator.
Gary Murphy, the landlord of Ye Olde Mitre
in Barnet, has run a successful crowdfunding
campaign to secure the funds to launch a High
Court challenge against what he calls the “out
of control” regulator. And last year the British
Pub Confederation chairman Greg Mulholland
wrote to the minister, saying that there was a
“worrying lack of understanding about the
fundamental nature and purpose of the pubs
code legislation”.
The first review covers the period to 31 March
2019. Views are sought from all those with an
interest in the operation of the Pubs Code and
the effectiveness of the Pubs Code Adjudicator.
This includes, but is not restricted to:
• the Pub Operating Businesses covered by
the Code
• tied (and previously tied) tenants and
those that represent their interests
• trade bodies
• the Pubs Code Adjudicator
The consultation runs until 22 July 2019 and
you can find out more details at www.gov.
uk/government/consultations/pubs-code-andpubs-code-adjudicator-statutory-review
The words are good; let’s hope that the reality
lives up to them.
Mine’s A Pint
14