It comes as no surprise that Marston’s has announced this week that it has sold its remaining stake in the Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company. It will now operate just as a pub chain, leaving Carlsberg as the largest cask ale brewer in the United Kingdom.
Now, I've been a member of the Wolverhampton branch of Campaign for Real Ale since 1988, and all the time that I've been aware of Banks's, they often seemed to put themselves in financially dangerous situations. Buying a successful brewery with a good range of beers, which is feeding its established pubs, is something that Wolverhampton and Dudley did a lot; sometimes stretching their own finances which were propped up by pub sales, selling brewery land, and taking out bank loans.
Banks’s Brewery itself was established in Wolverhampton in 1875, with Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries Limited being registered in May 1890, to amalgamate Banks’s, C.C. Smith also based in Wolverhampton, and George Thompson and Sons based in Dudley. Since then, the company has absorbed over a dozen breweries including Hansons in Dudley in 1943, whose brewery they then closed in 1992 and Marston's in 1999.
Wolverhampton & Dudley continued to stretch their finances by making further takeovers including Jennings in 2005, Ringwood in 2007, and Wychwood (the brewers of Hobgoblin) in 2008 and more. They fended off several takeover bids themselves. The company changed its name to Marston’s in 2007, which sadly saw many Banks’s pubs in Wolverhampton being rebranded.
Since the Brexit vote, the drop in the value of the pound has seen several foreign takeovers, including large London brewer Fullers, which was taken over by Japanese brewer Asahi.
The pandemic closed pubs for months, leaving brewers with increasing debts and little income. Without the restrictions on energy prices that domestic users saw, many breweries closed and others were unable to repay loans. Marston's sold 60% of its brewing operation to Carlsberg, forming the Carlsberg Marston Brewing Company in 2020, based in Wolverhampton.
In 2021, Marston's had debts of over £1,200 million, which had reduced only to £1,100 million by December 2023. This week, Chief Executive Officer Justin Platt said that selling the remainder of the brewing operation now frees the company to focus entirely on its pub operating, and reduces their debt by £20 million.
CMBC will continue to brew beer for the Marston's pubs. Carlsberg has also agreed this week to pay £3.3 billion to take over the Britvic company. Carlsberg now owns three large brewery sites: their original site in Northampton, Marston’s Brewery in Burton-upon-Trent, and Banks's brewery in Wolverhampton. Time will tell if any of the sites will merge, but for now, let's hope the smell of hops continues to drift across Chapel Ash here in Wolverhampton.
References:
http://breweryhistory.com/wiki/index.php?title=Wolverhampton_%26_Dudley:_Acquisition_History
Marston's Press Release announcing the full sale of its brewing operation.
