John Smith's Brewery in
Tadcaster
Tadcaster is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, north-east of Leeds and south-west of York.
Its historical importance from Roman times onward was largely as the lowest road crossing-point o ...
,
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...
, England, produces beers including John Smith's, the highest selling
bitter in the United Kingdom since the mid-1990s.
The majority of John Smith's sales are of the
nitrogenated Extra Smooth product, although a
cask conditioned
Real ale is the name coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) for ale that is "brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous carb ...
variant is available nationally. A stronger variant called Magnet is also available in the North East of England. John Smith's Cask and Magnet are produced under licence by
Cameron's in
Hartlepool
Hartlepool ( ) is a seaside resort, seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is governed by a unitary authority borough Borough of Hartlepool, named after the town. The borough is part of the devolved Tees Valley area with an estimat ...
.
John Smith acquired the Backhouse & Hartley brewery in 1852. Following a series of acquisitions in the post-
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
period, the company became one of the largest regional brewers in the country, operating over 1,800 licensed premises. The company was taken over by
Courage
Courage (also called bravery, valour ( British and Commonwealth English), or valor (American English)) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Valor is courage or bravery, especially in ...
in 1970 who extended distribution of the brewery's products into the South of England. Courage was acquired by
Scottish & Newcastle
Scottish & Newcastle plc was a brewing company headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland, which expanded from its home base to become an international business with beer volumes growing almost tenfold.
The company was listed on the London Stock Exc ...
in 1995, and the operations were purchased by
Heineken
Heineken Lager Beer (), or simply Heineken (), is a Dutch pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star.
History
On 15 February 1864, ...
in 2008.
John Smith's Extra Smooth and Original are produced at the Tadcaster brewery, as well as a range of Heineken products including
Amstel
The Amstel () is a river in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. It flows from the Aarkanaal and Drecht in Nieuwveen northwards, passing Uithoorn, Amstelveen, and Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, to the IJ in Amsterdam, to which the rive ...
and
Kronenbourg 1664
Kronenbourg 1664 is a golden pale lager with an alcohol by volume (ABV) of 5.5% in continental Europe and 5.0% and 4.6% for the UK market. It was first brewed in 1664 by Kronenbourg Brewery, Canon Brewery in Alsace, France, by master brewer Gero ...
. With a 38 million litre capacity, the brewery is one of the largest in the country.
John Smith's became well known for a series of highly successful "No Nonsense"-themed television advertising campaigns, featuring the dour Yorkshireman character "Arkwright" during the 1970s and 1980s (shown only in the
South of England
Southern England, also known as the South of England or the South, is a sub-national part of England. Officially, it is made up of the southern, south-western and part of the eastern parts of England, consisting of the statistical regions of ...
), followed by the comedians
Jack Dee
James Andrew Innes "Jack" Dee (born 24 September 1961) is an English stand-up comedian, actor, presenter, and writer known for his sarcasm, irony, and deadpan humour. He wrote and starred in the sitcom '' Lead Balloon'' and hosts the panel show ...
during the 1990s and
Peter Kay
Peter John Kay (born 2 July 1973) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. Born and raised in Farnworth, Kay studied media performance at the University of Salford and later began working part-time as a stand-up comedian. In 199 ...
since 2002. The brand also has an association with
horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...
: it was the principal sponsor of the
Grand National
The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England. First run in 1839, it ...
between 2005 and 2013, the
Northumberland Plate
The Northumberland Plate is a Flat racing, flat Handicap (horse racing), handicap Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Newcastle Racecour ...
from 2003 until 2016, and has sponsored the
John Smith's Cup
The John Smith's Cup (known until 1998 as the Magnet Cup) is a flat handicap horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at York over a distance of 1 mile 2 f ...
since 1960.
History
Early years

Stephen Hartley began brewing in Tadcaster in 1758.
[ Jane Hartley mortgaged the brewery to David Backhouse and John Hartley in 1845.][ Samuel Smith of ]Leeds
Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
arranged for his son John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
to enter the business in 1847.[ Jane Hartley died in 1852, and John Smith acquired the business, enlisting his brother William to assist.][ The timing was to prove fortuitous; ]pale ale
Pale ale is a golden to amber coloured beer style brewed with pale malt. The term first appeared in England around 1703 for beers made from malts dried with high-carbon coke, which resulted in a lighter colour than other beers popular at th ...
s were displacing porter
Porter may refer to:
Companies
* Porter Airlines, Canadian airline based in Toronto
* Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets
* Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer
* H.K. Porter, Inc., a locom ...
as the beer of choice, and Tadcaster's hard water
Hard water is water that has a high mineral content (in contrast with "soft water"). Hard water is formed when water percolates through deposits of limestone, chalk or gypsum, which are largely made up of calcium and magnesium carbonates, bic ...
proved to be well-suited for brewing the new style. The prosperity of the 1850s and 1860s, together with the arrival of the railways, realised greater opportunities for brewers, and John Smith employed eight men in his brewing and malting enterprise by 1861.[ ]
The operations became sizeable during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Smith died in 1879, leaving an estate valued at under £45,000 (around £4.1 million in 2016 adjusted for inflation), and his assets were jointly inherited by his two brothers, William and Samuel Smith Samuel Smith may refer to:
In politics
*Samuel Smith (Connecticut politician) (1646–1735), early settler of Norwalk, Connecticut and deputy of the General Assembly of the Colony of Connecticut in 1691
*Samuel Smith (1754–1834), British member ...
, a tanner.[ William purchased Samuel's share of his brother's personal estate, and built a modern brewery in 1883–4 at the cost of £130,000 (£9.7 million in 2013).][ By this time the business employed over 100 people.] William Smith died in 1886, and the firm was inherited in partnership
A partnership is an agreement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments or combinations. Organizations ...
by his two nephews, Henry Herbert Riley (1863 - 1911) and Frank Riley, henceforth known as Riley-Smith under the terms of his will.
The firm expanded throughout the 1880s by creating an agency network, establishing sixteen offices in nearby settlements, and offering free trade discounts on their beer of 20 per cent or higher.[ The brewery had an annual output of 150,000 ]barrel
A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden stave (wood), staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers ...
s by 1889. In 1889, the company's first scientifically-trained head brewer was appointed, Percy Clinch, son of Charles Clinch of the Eagle Brewery 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.
History
The Toponymy, place-name "Witney" is derived from the Old English for "Witta's island". The earliest kno ...
. In 1892, the partnership became a limited company
In a limited company, the Legal liability, liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a c ...
called John Smith's Tadcaster Brewery Company Limited, with Henry Herbert Riley-Smith as chairman
The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...
. In 1899 the company acquired Simpson & Co of Market Weighton
Market Weighton ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is one of the main towns in the East Yorkshire Wolds and lies midway between Kingston upon Hull, Hull and York, about from e ...
, with 51 public houses, and converted the brewery into a maltings
A malt house, malt barn, or maltings, is a building where cereal grain is converted into malt by soaking it in water, allowing it to sprout and then drying it to stop further growth. The malt is used in brewing beer, whisky and in certain foo ...
.
By the turn of the century the brewery was considered to be one of the best-run in Britain, "a byword for first-class management".[ In 1907, John Marples of ]Sheffield
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...
, the wines and spirits distributor, was acquired. The company began to bottle its own beer in Tadcaster from 1907. In 1912, the company owned over 250 horses, 41 of which saw service during the First World War. Artificially carbonated
Carbonation is the chemical reaction of carbon dioxide to give carbonates, bicarbonates, and carbonic acid. In chemistry, the term is sometimes used in place of carboxylation, which refers to the formation of carboxylic acids.
In inorganic che ...
beer was first bottled in 1923. Paired horse drays were phased out by 1929. During and for some time after the World Wars, the Government raised the duty on beer, and forced brewers to lower their beer strength. During this period, substitutes for malted barley had to be used for brewing, including flaked barley, oats and rye
Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is grown principally in an area from Eastern and Northern Europe into Russia. It is much more tolerant of cold weather and poor soil than o ...
.
The last of the company's dray horses was retired in 1947. Horses had delivered beer to all the areas surrounding the brewery, as far afield as Pateley Bridge
Pateley Bridge (known locally as Pateley) is a market town in the civil parish of High and Low Bishopside, in Nidderdale, in the county and district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies on the ...
. From 1948 the company exported beer to Belgium where it was bottled and distributed by Tilkens brewery. In 1950 there was a general strike
A general strike is a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large coalitions ...
in Belgium, and John Smith's hired two Handley Page Halifax
The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester.
The Halifax has its or ...
heavy bomber
Heavy bombers are bomber Fixed-wing aircraft, aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually Aerial bomb, bombs) and longest range (aeronautics), range (takeoff to landing) of their era. Archetypal heavy ...
aircraft
An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...
to carry 7 ton loads twice-daily of their beers into the country in order to ensure supply. In 1953 the firm became a public company
A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of share capital, stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) co ...
, with fixed asset
Fixed assets (also known as long-lived assets or property, plant and equipment; PP&E) is a term used in accounting for assets and property that may not easily be converted into cash. They are contrasted with current assets, such as cash, bank ac ...
s of around £5 million, 1,000 licensed premises and around 1,100 employees. In 1958, Whitworth, Son & Nephew of Wath-upon-Dearne
Wath upon Dearne (shortened to Wath or often hyphenated) is a town south of the River Dearne in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, north of Rotherham and almost midway between Barnsley and Doncaster. It had a po ...
was acquired with 165 licensed houses, and the brewery was immediately closed down. In 1959 the company began to bottle imported Alken lager
Lager (; ) is a Type of beer, style of beer brewed and Brewing#Conditioning, conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be Pale lager, pale, Amber lager, amber, or Dark lager, dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially availab ...
at Tadcaster, in response to growing customer demand. In 1961 the company also began to bottle Carlsberg Carlsberg may refer to:
Places
* Carlsberg (district), a district in Copenhagen, Denmark
** Carlsberg station, its train station
* Carlsberg, Germany, a municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
* Carlsberg Fjord, Greenland Other uses
* Carlsbe ...
lager. By 1960 the company had an estate of 909 public houses.
In 1961, John Smith's acquired the Barnsley Brewery Company, adding 250 licensed properties to their growing estate. The company acquired Warwicks & Richardsons of Newark-on-Trent
Newark-on-Trent () or Newark is a market town and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district in Nottinghamshire, England. It is on the River Trent, and was historically a major inland port. The A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road bypasses th ...
, with 474 pubs, in 1962. Whilst some product rationalisation took place, popular lines such as Warwicks' Milk Maid Stout were retained. John Smith's closed down all the breweries it acquired, apart from Barnsley, where it invested in the brewery, and added production of John Smith beers to the site, as well as increasing the distribution of Barnsley Bitter. As a result of acquisitions, by 1967 John Smith's was the third largest regional brewer in the country after Courage and Scottish & Newcastle
Scottish & Newcastle plc was a brewing company headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland, which expanded from its home base to become an international business with beer volumes growing almost tenfold.
The company was listed on the London Stock Exc ...
, with fixed assets of £30 million. Acquisitions diluted the Riley-Smith family stake in the company to around 10 per cent.
1970–present: Courage takeover and the growth of John Smith's Bitter
In October 1970, Courage purchased John Smith's in a friendly takeover which valued the company at £40 million (equivalent to £ million in ). By this time John Smith's owned around 1,800 licensed premises throughout the north of England, and as far south as Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and parts of Cambridgeshire and Shropshire. The merged company held asset
In financial accounting, an asset is any resource owned or controlled by a business or an economic entity. It is anything (tangible or intangible) that can be used to produce positive economic value. Assets represent value of ownership that can b ...
s worth £137 million. By combining Courage's strength in the South of England, and John Smith's in the North, a national brewing company was created. John Smith's bottled Magnet Pale Ale was selected for nationwide distribution across the group, and the takeover facilitated the wider distribution of Courage brands such as Tavern Keg.
The Tadcaster brewery was substantially redeveloped and expanded throughout 1974. Courage closed down the Barnsley brewery in 1976 with the loss of 200 jobs. Barnsley Bitter was replaced by John Smith's bitter.[ Courage argued that modernisation of the Barnsley site would have required "massive" investment.] It was reported in ''The Times'' that landlords were generally indifferent to the change, as the taste profiles of John Smith's bitter and Barnsley bitter were similar.
After successful test marketing from 1974, John Smith's Bitter was distributed in the South of England from 1979 onwards, accompanied by an extensive marketing budget.[''Yorkshire Evening Post'', 10 November 2004 We 'ave it!] As research by Courage indicated that Southern drinkers considered Yorkshire bitter to be superior, the beer was sold there under the name John Smith's Yorkshire Bitter. Sales of the beer doubled in 1981 owing to the increase in free trade outlets in the South stocking the beer.["Yorkshire Double Act Pays off", ''Financial Times'', 29 October 1982, p.19. ''Financial Times. Web''. 19 August 2011.] By 1982 it was the highest selling Courage brand and the highest selling canned bitter in the United Kingdom.
In 1982, the John Smith's brands included Yorkshire Bitter, Magnet Pale Ale, Export Pale, Sweet Stout, Double Brown and Magnet Old. In December 1983, John Smith's Cask (3.8% ABV
Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as alc/vol or ABV) is a common measure of the amount of alcohol contained in a given alcoholic beverage. It is defined as the volume the ethanol in the liquid would take if separated from the rest of the solution, ...
) was re-introduced, seven years after it had been phased out. By June 1985, John Smith's produced of beer annually. In November that year, a new brewhouse was opened, at the cost of £5 million. Production of Foster's lager
Foster's Lager is an internationally distributed brand of Australian lager. It is owned by the Japanese brewing group Asahi Group Holdings, and is brewed under licence in a number of countries, including its biggest market, the UK, where t ...
began in 1987.
In 1993, John Smith's Extra Smooth was launched in cans. It was introduced in kegs in February 1995, and distributed to 10,000 pubs and venues. It is a nitrogenated version of the pasteurised beer, which was renamed to John Smith's Original in order to differentiate the two products.
In 2005, Scottish & Newcastle claimed that John Smith's was available in 40,000 outlets across the United Kingdom. In 2007, Scottish & Newcastle moved production of John Smith's Cask from Tadcaster to Burtonwood
Burtonwood is a village in the civil parish of Burtonwood and Westbrook, in the Borough of Warrington, Cheshire, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, the name Burtonwood is known worldwide as the location of the ...
near Warrington, and production of John Smith's Magnet to Camerons Brewery
Camerons Brewery 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 hectolitres ...
of Hartlepool
Hartlepool ( ) is a seaside resort, seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is governed by a unitary authority borough Borough of Hartlepool, named after the town. The borough is part of the devolved Tees Valley area with an estimat ...
. In 2008 three limited edition beers were released to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the brewery. In 2010 Heineken discontinued production of cask conditioned John Smith's Magnet, although it remains available in kegs. By 2011, production of John Smith's Cask had moved to Cameron's. As of 2012, John Smith's is the sixth highest selling beer brand in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and the highest selling bitter in the world.[ From February 2013, John Smith's Extra Smooth and Original were reduced from 3.8 to 3.6% ABV.] According to Heineken, the decision was taken in order to bring the product in line with the strength of its major competitors such as Tetley, Boddingtons and Worthington.
Beers
* John Smith's Extra Smooth (3.6% ABV). The highest selling variant, available in kegs and cans. It is nitrogenated and pasteurised.
* John Smith's Original (3.6% ABV). The same as Extra Smooth, but carbonated, rather than nitrogenated.
* John Smith's Cask (3.8% ABV). Available nationwide, but most often found around the brewery's Yorkshire heartland.
* John Smith's Magnet (4% ABV). A keg product, most frequently found around the North East and Yorkshire.
* John Smiths Golden Ale (4% ABV). Available in a can only, a lightly hopped pale ale.
Brewery
The brewery brews 3.8 million hectolitres annually (1.3 million of which is John Smith's beer), and employed around 300 people in 2008. It has two keg lines, two bottle lines and one canning line. It currently brews and packages the ale brands John Smith's Original, John Smith's Extra Smooth and Newcastle Brown Ale
Newcastle Brown Ale is a brown ale, originally brewed in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It was launched in 1927 by Colonel Jim Porter after three years of development. The 1960 merger of Newcastle Breweries with Scottish Brewers afforded the bee ...
, and the lager brands Foster's, Kronenbourg 1664
Kronenbourg 1664 is a golden pale lager with an alcohol by volume (ABV) of 5.5% in continental Europe and 5.0% and 4.6% for the UK market. It was first brewed in 1664 by Kronenbourg Brewery, Canon Brewery in Alsace, France, by master brewer Gero ...
(Kronenbourg is a Carlsberg Carlsberg may refer to:
Places
* Carlsberg (district), a district in Copenhagen, Denmark
** Carlsberg station, its train station
* Carlsberg, Germany, a municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
* Carlsberg Fjord, Greenland Other uses
* Carlsbe ...
-owned brand brewed under license by Heineken in the UK), Amstel
The Amstel () is a river in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. It flows from the Aarkanaal and Drecht in Nieuwveen northwards, passing Uithoorn, Amstelveen, and Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, to the IJ in Amsterdam, to which the rive ...
and Tiger
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...
.
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...
Yorkshire Square
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 u ...
brewing vessels were used at the brewery from 1913 until 1975. Stainless steel
Stainless steel, also known as inox, corrosion-resistant steel (CRES), or rustless steel, is an iron-based alloy that contains chromium, making it resistant to rust and corrosion. Stainless steel's resistance to corrosion comes from its chromi ...
Yorkshire Squares were in use by at least 1953, but were removed in the 1980s, and the brewery now uses conical tanks. By 1953, the brewery site occupied 20 acres.
Wooden casks were still in use in the 1960s. The cask beer line was removed in 1976, but restored in 1984. A new canning line and a new brewhouse were installed around 1982.
In 1984 the original brewhouse was converted into a brewery museum. In November 1985 a new £5 million brewhouse opened. Production of Foster's Lager began in 1987.[ By 1989 the brewery had a production capacity of 1.2 million barrels per annum. ]Scottish & Newcastle
Scottish & Newcastle plc was a brewing company headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland, which expanded from its home base to become an international business with beer volumes growing almost tenfold.
The company was listed on the London Stock Exc ...
used the John Smith's Brewery to brew many of its ale brands. In 2004, a new £24 million bottling facility was opened in 2004, described as the most modern bottling facility in Europe.[Scottish Courage gets new bottling factory]
Advertising
The Magnet trademark was first registered in September 1908 in Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
, and symbolised strength.
The company's association with television advertising began in 1971 with the "Yorkshiremen love it" campaign.
An early campaign used a series of parodies of Jona Lewie
Jona Lewie (born John Lewis; 14 March 1947) is an English singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his 1980 UK hits "You'll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties" and "Stop the Cavalry".
Career
Early career
Jona Lewie ...
's "Stop the Cavalry
"Stop the Cavalry" is an anti-war song and a Christmas song written and performed by English musician Jona Lewie, released in 1980. The song peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart in December 1980, at one point being kept from number on ...
" generally extolling "yer mate called Smith."
This was followed by the "Big John" campaign, which ran in the North of England
Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmorland and Yorkshire. Officially, it is a gr ...
from 1981, and centred around a re-writing of the Big Bad John
"Big Bad John" is a country music, country song written and originally performed by Jimmy Dean. It was released in September 1961 and by the beginning of November it had gone to number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It won ...
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
staple.["Selling pitches." ''The Economist'', 20 November 1982, p.56. The Economist Historical Archive. Web. 17 May 2012.] Courage was able to demonstrate to an independent panel that the £300,000 campaign had resulted in a £5 million sales increase in the North.
From 1979 to 1986 Gordon Rollings
Gordon Charles Rollings (17 April 1926 – 7 June 1985) was an English actor who mainly appeared on television, but also appeared on-stage, radio and in feature films.
Biography
He was born in Batley, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, Engla ...
played the dour Yorkshireman Arkwright in a campaign that was only used in the South. The campaign won a large number of advertising industry awards, and was featured on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Johnny Carson, it aired from October 1, 1962 to May 22, 1992, replacing ''T ...
. After Rollings died in 1986 the campaign was continued with Arkwright's successor, Barraclough, until 1991. Despite its success, the campaign was not without detractors, with Deyan Sudjic
Deyan Sudjic (born 6 September 1952) is a British writer and broadcaster, specialising in the fields of design and architecture. He was formerly the director of the Design Museum, London.LSE"Advisory board" retrieved 17 May 2013
Life and caree ...
describing it in ''The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' as a "spurious ... tripe-and-whippets campaign".
No Nonsense campaigns
From 1992 until 1997, comedian Jack Dee
James Andrew Innes "Jack" Dee (born 24 September 1961) is an English stand-up comedian, actor, presenter, and writer known for his sarcasm, irony, and deadpan humour. He wrote and starred in the sitcom '' Lead Balloon'' and hosts the panel show ...
starred in the "No Nonsense" campaign, created by DDB. The Dee campaign was widely credited with helping John Smith's rise from sixteenth to fourth highest selling beer in the UK as sales increased by 65 per cent, and the brand overtook Tetley's as the highest selling ale brand in the world by 1995. The Dee campaign won fifty advertising awards, and helped to turn the rising comedian into a household name.
Dee resigned in 1997, and he was replaced in 1998 with a cardboard cut-out known as the "No Nonsense Man", from the GGT advertising agency. Despite appearing in over 20,000 pubs, clubs and shops, No Nonsense Man was found to have less of an impact than the Dee advertisements.
Peter Kay
Peter John Kay (born 2 July 1973) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. Born and raised in Farnworth, Kay studied media performance at the University of Salford and later began working part-time as a stand-up comedian. In 199 ...
represented the brand from 2002 to 2005 and again in 2010–11.[Images of strategy By Stephen Cummings, p69] The Kay campaign was described as an "advertising phenomenon", and introduced the phrase "Ave it!" into the public consciousness. Between 2002 and 2004 the Kay advertisements won over fifty advertising and marketing awards, making it the sixth most awarded advertising campaign in the world. Despite the success of the Kay campaign, the perceived " laddishness" of the advertisements were criticised by rival brewer 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 Brewery, Boddi ...
as hindering sales of beer among women.
Sponsorship
John Smith's is a major sponsor of horse racing in the United Kingdom. It has sponsored the Northumberland Plate
The Northumberland Plate is a Flat racing, flat Handicap (horse racing), handicap Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Newcastle Racecour ...
since 2003, and more than 90 "No Nonsense" race days are held throughout the year at 28 jump and flat racecourses across the UK. The brand has sponsored the John Smith's Cup
The John Smith's Cup (known until 1998 as the Magnet Cup) is a flat handicap horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at York over a distance of 1 mile 2 f ...
(originally the Magnet Cup until 1998) at York since 1960, which is the longest running sponsorship in flat racing
Horse racing is an equestrianism, equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all spor ...
in the world. John Smith's previously sponsored the Grand National
The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England. First run in 1839, it ...
between 2005 and 2013.
In August 2012 John Smith's announced a five-year sponsorship of the Kirklees Stadium
Kirklees Stadium, currently known as the John Smith's Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Since 1994, it has been the home ground of Huddersfield Town A.F.C., Huddersfield Town A ...
in Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...
, home to football team Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football.
Huddersfield Town we ...
and rugby league team Huddersfield Giants
The Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Huddersfield play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league sy ...
, which was renamed "John Smith's Stadium". In December 2016, this deal was extended for a further five years.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Smiths, John
Heineken brands
Breweries in Yorkshire
Beer brands of England
Companies based in Tadcaster
British companies established in 1852
Food and drink companies established in 1852
1852 establishments in England
Tadcaster