Whitbread & Co. Ltd
Whitbread & Co. Ltd, Chiswell Street, London EC1
Founded in 1742. Registered in July 1889.
Takeover trail:
- In 1896, they acquired Gripper Brothers of the Bell Brewery, Tottenham, and used it as a regional depot until the mid 1980s.
- They acquired part of the tied estate of the Notting Hill Brewery Co Ltd in 1920 when that company ceased brewing.
- In 1927, they acquired Frederick Leney & Sons Ltd, Phoenix Brewery, Wateringbury with 156 public houses.
- Jude, Hanbury & Co. Ltd, Ash & Co and Mackeson & Co Ltd were acquired in 1929. The Mackeson brewery in Hythe survived until 1968, brewing a famous sweet stout.
- Norman & Pring Ltd of Exeter were acquired in April 1962 with 102 tied houses and Starkey, Knight & Ford Ltd in 1962 with 400 tied houses.
- West Country Breweries Ltd, Cheltenham were acquired in 1963 and became known as Whitbread Flowers Ltd.
- Rhymney Breweries Ltd were acquired in January 1966.
- James Thompson & Co Ltd of Barrow-in-Furness were acquired in 1966 with 47 public houses.
- In 1967, they acquired Fremlins Ltd of Maidstone with 714 public houses. Brewery closed October 1972 but used as a depot until 2003.
- Threlfall’s Chesters Ltd (Threlfall & Co Ltd) of Liverpool and Salford were acquired in 1967 with 800 licensed houses.
- In January 1968, Cobb & Co. of Margate were acquired with 40 public houses. The brewery closed in October 1968 and was demolished in July 1971.
- Gardner & Co. Ltd of Ash, and Tomson & Wotton Ltd of Ramsgate were acquired by Whitbread in June 1968.
- John Young & Co, Ladywell Brewery, Fisherrow, were acquired in November 1968 with 11 tied houses and brewing ceased on 31st January 1969.
- They acquired Brickwoods Ltd, Portsmouth Brewery in 1971 with 675 public houses. Brewing ceased there in 1983 and the brewery was demolished in 1990.
A new brewery Whitbread Luton was built at Luton in 1969 and brewing ceased at Chiswell Street in 1976.
Many buildings remain. The site has been converted to other uses, including a posh hotel. The Porter Tun Room is now a conference centre.
The company ceased brewing and now concentrates on its leisure business.
The brewery features in The Noted Breweries of Great Britain and Ireland by Alfred Barnard published 1890.
An assortment of images of the brewery
An assortment of images of the brewery stables
An assortment of images of the brewery bottling stores
The Chiswell Street brewery in 2011. Courtesy Steve Peck
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