BEERWOLF - Wolverhampton Campaign for Real Ale

BANKS’S
Wolverhampton Banks’s brewery is currently
celebrating after its latest brew recently
received the city’s seal of approval.
Sunbeam, which was specially brewed
by Banks’s to mark the 10th anniversary
celebration of Wolverhampton’s city status
was given the thumbs up at the City Show in
July. Banks’s head brewer, Richard Frost said:
“We are delighted that Sunbeam has
received Wolverhampton’s seal of approval,
as we wanted to do something special to
celebrate the city’s status. Sunbeam refl ects
Wolverhampton and the people who make this
city such a wonderful place to be.”
Councillor Bert Turner, Mayor of
Wolverhampton, sampled the beer at the City
Show and was full of praise for the drink.
He said: “I think it is a very choice beer and
a very pleasant drink. Praise must go to
Banks’s for taking the time to create this ale
to make the 10-year anniversary of being
granted city status and naming it after such an
important part of our heritage. We are proud
people in Wolverhampton and being made
a city was one of the proudest moments in
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Local Brewery News
our long history. We can be pleased with the
progress made over the last decade and look
forward to much more to come in the future.”
The 4.2% ABV ale is made from a
combination of the English hop; Pilgrim and
from further afi eld, US-grown Citra and the
Nelson Sauvin hop from New Zealand.
On 19th June, Banks’s Visitor’s Centre took
excited dads for a special Father’s Day tour
around the Wolverhampton-based Park
Brewery at the weekend. The 22 dads were
treated to coffee, croissants and a paper to
read on arrival, followed by the brewery
tour, a few pints and a slap up lunch in the
Clarendon Hotel over the road. The special
guests were accompanied by their families,
with more than 100 people taking the tour.
Banks’s brand manager Joanne Wyke
said: “We were delighted the Father’s Day
packages we designed went down so well - we
were fully-booked. All the dads enjoyed the
occasion and it has prompted more interest in
the tours, with more bookings coming in as a
direct result of this activity. “So it really is a
big thank you to dads everywhere!”
Banks’s have recently received praise from
the British Franchise Association for the
tenancy agreement that they launched in
2009. The tenancy operates like a franchise
as Banks’s underwrite refurbishment costs
and in return claims a portion of the profi t
that the pub goes on to make. Normally a pub
tenancy will involve the PubCo charging rent
and selling beer to the tenant. The way that
Banks’s are doing this encourages licensees
to operate more like businessmen with the
fi nancial support that Banks’s can offer. The
accreditation won by Banks’s has shown that
this type of mutually benefi cial agreement is
here to stay with some 600 pubs expected to
be in the scheme by the end of 2013.