Marston's plc is a British
pub
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
and hotel operator. Founded by John Marston in 1834,
it is listed on the
London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St P ...
. Marston's disposed of its brewing operations in 2020, selling the assets to a newly formed joint venture with the
Carlsberg Group
Carlsberg A/S (; ) is a Danish multinational brewer. Founded in 1847 by J. C. Jacobsen, the company's headquarters is in Copenhagen, Denmark. Since Jacobsen's death in 1887, the majority owner of the company has been the Carlsberg Foundation. T ...
to create the Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company (CMBC), in which Marston's plc holds a 40% share.
History
In 1834, John Marston established J. Marston & Son at the Horninglow Brewery in
Burton upon Trent
Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In 2011, it had a population of 72,299. The ...
.
By 1861, the brewery produced 3,000 barrels a year.
In 1890, Marston & Son Ltd was registered as a limited liability company.
In 1898 Marston's amalgamated with John Thompson & Son Ltd and moved to Albion Brewery on Shobnall Road, which the company still operates.
By this time the brewery had a capacity of 100,000 barrels a year.
It was at this time that the
Burton Union System
Beer is produced through steeping a sugar source (commonly Malted cereal grains) in water and then fermenting with yeast. Brewing has taken place since around the 6th millennium BC, and archeological evidence suggests that this technique was ...
began to be used.
In 1905, the company merged with Sydney Evershed to form Marston, Thompson & Evershed.
Banks & Co has been brewing at the Park Brewery in Wolverhampton since 1875. In 1890 Banks became Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries when the company amalgamated with George Thompson & Sons and Charles Colonel Smith's Brewery.
In 1943 Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries took over Julia Hanson & Sons, with 200 pubs. It was first listed on the
London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St P ...
in 1947.
[ It acquired ]Camerons Brewery
Camerons Brewery Ltd is an English brewery established by John William Cameron in Stranton, Hartlepool, County Durham, in 1865. It is the largest independent brewer in the North East of England, with a brewery capacity of 1.5 million hectoli ...
in Hartlepool in 1992[ and sold it to Castle Eden in 2002, whilst retaining some of Cameron's tied pubs.
In 1999, Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries purchased Marston, Thompson & Evershed, and in the same year took over the ]Mansfield Brewery
Mansfield Brewery was a brewery and public house operating company, based in the North Nottinghamshire market town of Mansfield, England. Established in 1855, after being taken over by Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries in 1999, the brewing of th ...
of Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...
and closed it down, transferring production of Mansfield beers to the Park Brewery. In 2005, Marston's Brewery took over production under licence from Interbrew
Interbrew is subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV is based in Breda, Netherlands. It has one subsidiary, Ambev S.A. of São Paulo, Brazil.
Brands
Interbrew brands have historically included Budweiser, Stella Artois, Boddingtons, Beck's, S ...
of Draught Bass
Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to:
Watercraft dimensions
* Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel
* Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail
* Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...
, succeeding Coors. Later in 2005, the Jennings Brewery of Cockermouth
Cockermouth is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England, so named because it is at the confluence of the River Cocker as it flows into the River Derwent. The mid-2010 census estimates state that Cocke ...
was purchased and in 2007 Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...
-based Ringwood Brewery
Ringwood Brewery is a small brewery on the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire, England, near the Dorset border. It produces mainly cask ales and some bottled beers.
The emblem for the brewery is a boar.
There are records from the early 19th c ...
, which was established in 1978, and brews Best Bitter, Fortyniner, and Old Thumper, was acquired. In 2007, the company changed its name from Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries plc to Marston's plc.
In late 2013, there was some controversy when it was announced that Marston's would sell some 200 pubs to new company New River Retail
NewRiver REIT plc is a specialist listed real estate investment trust (REIT), focused primarily on retail and leisure property. The company owns 33 shopping centres, 25 retail warehouses, 14 high street units and over 700 public houses. The company ...
. The fear was that many would close and be turned into convenience stores. In 2014, the company took over production of most Thwaites beers after the closure of the latter's main brewery. On 31 March 2015, it was announced the company was buying the bulk of Thwaites beer supply business outright and the top two brands Wainwright and Lancaster Bomber for around £25m.
In May 2017, Marston's announced further expansion with the acquisition of Charles Wells's Eagle Brewery in Bedford. This gave Marston's ownership of the Bombardier, Courage and McEwan's ale brands, and the global licence for Young's beers.
In February 2020, Marston's signed a five-year extension to its distribution deal with Japanese beer maker Kirin.
In May 2020, it was announced that subject to competition law and shareholder approval, Marston's would merge its brewing business with Carlsberg UK (the United Kingdom arm of Carlsberg Group
Carlsberg A/S (; ) is a Danish multinational brewer. Founded in 1847 by J. C. Jacobsen, the company's headquarters is in Copenhagen, Denmark. Since Jacobsen's death in 1887, the majority owner of the company has been the Carlsberg Foundation. T ...
), into a joint venture valued at £780m. Marston's will take a 40% stake in the joint venture and receive up to £273m in cash. The deal will involve Marston's six breweries and distribution depots, but not its 1,400 pubs. The merger was approved by the Competition and Markets Authority on 9 October 2020. The new brewing company will be headquartered in Wolverhampton and be known as Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company. It was also announced that the transaction was expected to be completed by the end of October 2020. The same month, the company announced that it will cut over 2,150 jobs (a fifth of their employees) as a result of the strict UK government measures to fight the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. In December 2020, Marston's took over the running of 156 pubs in Wales from Welsh brewer Brains
A brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as vision. It is the most complex organ in a v ...
.
Operations
The company owns and operates six breweries (as of July 2020):
* The Park Brewery in Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...
brews Banks's and Mansfield beers plus most Thwaites beers under contract.
* The Marston's Brewery in Burton upon Trent
Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In 2011, it had a population of 72,299. The ...
brews Marston's and Bass plus Tetley's beers under contract.
* The Jennings Brewery in Cockermouth
Cockermouth is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England, so named because it is at the confluence of the River Cocker as it flows into the River Derwent. The mid-2010 census estimates state that Cocke ...
* The Wychwood Brewery
Wychwood Brewery is a brewery in Witney, Oxfordshire, England, owned by Marston's. The company's flagship brand is Hobgoblin, a 5.2% abv brown ale.
Wychwood Brewery produces around 50,000 barrels () of cask ale each year, and is the United Ki ...
in Witney
Witney is a market town on the River Windrush in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is west of Oxford. The place-name "Witney" is derived from the Old English for "Witta's island". The earliest known record of it is as ...
(which includes the Brakspear Brewhouse)
* The Ringwood Brewery in Ringwood, Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...
* The Eagle Brewery, (formerly Charles Wells) Bedford
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...
brews Bombardier, Courage
Courage (also called bravery or valor) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Valor is courage or bravery, especially in battle.
Physical courage is bravery in the face of physical pain, h ...
, Waggle Dance, the global Young's licence and Scottish brands McEwan's and William Younger
The company operates over 1,700 pubs and bars across England and Wales, around 300 tenanted and 500 leased and a hotel chain.
Brewing methods
Marston's is the only remaining brewer to use Burton Union
Beer is produced through steeping a sugar source (commonly Malted cereal grains) in water and then fermenting with yeast. Brewing has taken place since around the 6th millennium BC, and archeological evidence suggests that this technique was ...
Sets, a system whereby fermentation barrels and troughs are linked together by pipework. The basic principle is one of preventing excessive beer and yeast loss through foaming, but the consequence is that the beer is in contact with more wood and with more beer, fermenting in a bigger volume, typically totalling about 100 barrels or 160 hectolitres. That results in a more consistent flavour and very little chance of a whole batch being ruined. All other large-scale brewers have abandoned that method in favour of stainless steel fermenting vessels, which while they ensure (through volume) a consistent flavour, limit the use of traditional yeast varieties. They make selective use of the unusual double dropping process (for example, in the production of Brakspear Bitter), which introduces complex flavours by a period of accelerated yeast growth.
Beers
The main beers are Mansfield, Wainwright, Marston's Pedigree and EPA, McEwans Export, McEwan's Special, Bombardier, Wychwood Hobgoblin, Jennings Cumberland Ale, and Banks's Bitter and Mild. Despite a general UK-wide decline in the popularity of mild ales, Banks's Mild still outsells its stablemate bitter in the West Midlands market and is the best-selling mild ale in the world. The company also owns Sunbeam, a blonde beer
Pale ale is a golden to amber coloured beer style brewed with pale malt. The term first appeared around 1703 for beers made from malts dried with high-carbon coke, which resulted in a lighter colour than other beers popular at that time. Di ...
which is brewed and distributed from the Banks's brewery based in Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...
. Sunbeam was first produced in 2011, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Wolverhampton achieving city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
status.
Half of all its beer is bottled. Marston's brews Draught Bass
Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to:
Watercraft dimensions
* Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel
* Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail
* Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...
for AB InBev
Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, commonly known as AB InBev, is an American-Belgian multinational drink and brewing company based in Leuven, Belgium. AB InBev has a global functional management office in New York City, and regional headquarters ...
and Tetley
Tetley is an English beverage manufacturer founded in 1837 in Yorkshire. It is the largest tea company in the United Kingdom and Canada, and the second largest in the United States by volume.
Since 2000, Tetley has been a wholly owned subsidiar ...
Bitter, Mild and Dark Mild for Carlsberg. Marston's Pedigree is a 4.3% ABV bitter
Bitter may refer to:
Common uses
* Resentment, negative emotion or attitude, similar to being jaded, cynical or otherwise negatively affected by experience
* Bitter (taste), one of the five basic tastes
Books
* '' Bitter (novel)'', a 2022 nove ...
. Introduced in 1952, it is Marston's flagship brand, selling 150,000 hectolitres
The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3). ...
in 2010. It is the only beer to use the oak Burton Union System
Beer is produced through steeping a sugar source (commonly Malted cereal grains) in water and then fermenting with yeast. Brewing has taken place since around the 6th millennium BC, and archeological evidence suggests that this technique was ...
so that it is fermented in wood; the ingredients are mineral enriched Burton Water, malted barley, and Fuggles
This is a list of varieties of hop (''Humulus lupulus'').
As there are male and female plants, the flowers (cones) of the female plant are fertilized by the pollen of the male flowers with the result that the female flowers form seeds. These se ...
and Goldings
This is a list of Plant variety (law), varieties of Hops, hop (''Humulus lupulus'').
As there are male and female plants, the flowers (cones) of the female plant are fertilized by the pollen of the male flowers with the result that the female fl ...
hops.
Wainwright is one of the company's best-selling beers and is brewed at the Banks's Brewery in Wolverhampton. It is a 4.1% ABV golden ale named in honour of the famous fell walker and author Alfred Wainwright
Alfred Wainwright MBE (17 January 1907 – 20 January 1991), who preferred to be known as A. Wainwright or A.W., was a British fellwalker, guidebook author and illustrator. His seven-volume ''Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells'', published ...
. Marston's acquired the brand from Thwaites in 2015. In 2016, the Thwaites branding was dropped and the beer was rebranded "The golden beer".
The acquisition of Charles Wells's Eagle Brewery in Bedford
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...
increased Marston's share of the British ale market. It also widened its geographical reach giving it southern English brands Bombardier, Waggledance, Courage, the global Young's
Young's (Young & Co.'s Brewery Plc) is a British pub chain operating nearly 220 pubs.
The company was founded as a brewery in 1831 by Charles Young and Anthony Bainbridge when they purchased the Ram Brewery in Wandsworth. The company closed t ...
licence and Scottish brands McEwan's
McEwan's is a brand of beer owned by Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company. It was originally brewed by William McEwan's Fountain Brewery in Edinburgh, Scotland. The McEwan's brand passed to Heineken in 2008 after their purchase of Scottish & New ...
and William Younger.
Sponsorship
From 2007 to 2017, Marston's had a sponsorshop agreement with the England and Wales Cricket Board
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the Sports governing body, national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test and ...
, whereby Marston's Pedigree was the official beer of the England Cricket team. Marston's was the official supplier of beer at all home test matches and had exclusive beer advertising rights.
See also
* Brewers of Burton
Burton upon Trent has a long history of brewing, at one time exporting beer throughout the world and accounting for a quarter of UK beer production; emulation of Burton water in brewing is called Burtonisation. Much of the town was given over to ...
* British regional breweries using wooden casks
References
External links
Marston's PLC
Marston's Inns
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marston's Brewery
Breweries in England
Companies based in Wolverhampton
British companies established in 1834
Food and drink companies established in 1890
Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange
Food and drink companies established in 1834