Hoskins Ltd - A History
Tom Hoskins Ltd, Beaumanor Brewery, 133 Beaumanor Road, Leicester.
Some time before 1877, Jabez Penn, a former blacksmith (born 1843 Warwickshire), set up a general store supplying, amongst other items, beer for the workforce involved in building the Great Central Railway. His shop was on what was then called Beaumont Road and it seems that he started brewing in the cottage; hence the initial name was the Hope Cottage Brewery. In 1877, he constructed a brewhouse measuring 32 feet long, 12 feet wide, 18 feet high and containing a copper and a coalhouse.
In 1895 he built a traditional tower brewery, now the oldest Victorian tower brewery in the county. In 1896, the name of the road was changed to Beaumanor Road. Over the next 15 years the brewery was extended 3 times, doubling the capacity.
Jabez’s daughter Elizabeth was thought to have been carrying out the brewing. In 1901, Thomas Hoskins, from Worcestershire, married Elizabeth, joined the business and in 1904 became a partner. The business was trading as J Penn & Co, but Tom took full control in 1906 and in 1909 the name was changed to Tom Hoskins Brewery.
In 1913, new fermenting vessels were installed, further increasing the capacity. However, quality was not forgotten in the drive for quantity. There were medals at the Brewers’ Exhibition in 1922, 1926, 1932 and 1936.
Tom Hoskins was listed as the brewer in 1925 and in 1932 it became identified as the Beaumanor Brewery. In 1930 Tom also installed a bottling plant.
The brewery continued to be well-regarded. In 1938, they received the Diploma of Excellence and Gold Plate for the IPA and strong ale at the Brewers’ Exhibition.
In June 1947, the business was registered as a Private Limited Company, with one pub and one off-licence. In 1952 Tom died and his son George took over the brewing. However, the Fifties was not a healthy time for small breweries and in the latter part of the decade, Hoskins considered a merger with Ruddles Brewery Ltd. However, they struggled on and were probably too small to attract interest during the merger and take-over boom of the 1960s.
Excellence was rewarded again in 1968 when the IPA was graded first in its class and the strong ale won second in its.
In 1973, they were still advertising “have a drink at home”, with draught beer available from the off-licence at the brewery. Even the one tied pub, the Red Lion did not carry the brewery name. They supplied the free trade in Leicester and delivered to private houses. The off-licence in Twycross Street, Highfields, did not however supply draught. Their slogan was matched by the product range, in that they brewed only a draught bitter and a mild. However, the bottled range was much wider:-
- Home Brewed - pale ale Strong - dark ale
- IPA Bitter - the draught bitter bottled
- Best Mild - mild in bottle
- Nut Brown - stronger version of mild
The bitter and mild were also available in 7 pint cans (readers of a certain age may remember the “Party Seven”) and 9 gallon kegs were also available. They may have been ahead of their time if one considers how many of the current generation of craft brewers see their future in sales of bottled beer.
In 1974, they were brewing only some 10 barrels per week. The brewery was still run by four members of the family. This included Nellie at the off-licence and Phil (aged 26, Nellie’s nephew) as brewer in 1976. In 1978, after the death of Phil’s father George, there was some family disagreement as to whether to continue. However, he continued, ably assisted by Andrew “Pat” Paterson, aged 70, some 11 years at Hoskins, and previously the Head Brewer at the Midlands Clubs Brewery Ltd and with experience at Home in Nottingham.
They were producing a Bitter 1039º OG and a Mild 1033º OG. However, the latter sold only some 12 barrels per month. They were supplying some 5 outlets, but gradually increasing. The bottled range was:- Home Brew (light mild), Best Mild, Nut Brown, IPA and Strong Ale. The latter was a darker version of the bitter, occasionally in cask as Old Ale. In 1979, draught beer at the off-licence cost only 27p per pint.
In 1982 Pat Paterson retired, Phil Hoskins was keen to continue brewing, but he was not a shareholder. In May 1983 the business was for sale, Nellie had broken her leg and retired, leaving Betty Branson as the only active member of the six family shareholders. The production was 20-40 barrels per week.
In the August, the Hoskins family sold the business to TRD Estates Ltd, which also ran an English vineyard and orchard. This was a business owned by Barrie & Robert Hoar of the Saffron Waldon Vineyard Company. They had considered setting up a brew pub in Thaxted and had previously tried to buy the Three Tuns (Bishops Castle). They were helped by Tony Diebel, a former Truman, Hanbury, Buxton (Burton) district manager, who became the MD. On the brewing side they had assistance from Geoff Sharp, former Head Brewer at Hardys & Hansons Ltd and Bill Urquhart of the Litchborough Brewery.
The brewery was renovated with a new wider range of draught beers such as Penn’s Ale at 1045º, new beer mats and polypins, although bottling ceased and Holdens contract bottled for them. There was a £70,000 investment in the Red Lion and plans for a brewery tap in the old offices. The Crown & Cushion at Whitwick was bought from Ind Coope Ltd.
In May 1984, they opened the Tom Hoskins’ pub, created from what was once the family living room. At first there was just a “spit and sawdust” basic public bar, a later “Grist Room” with carpets became a slightly more up-market lounge created from what had previously been the old office, malt store and grist mill. The old brewery well remains in the garden.
In February 1984, they bought an 8% stake in Midsummer Inns, formerly CAMRA Investments, to become the second largest investor in the concern. By April they had raised their stake to 24.3%. In June 1984 Swithland Leisure, having bought the Hoar’s 24.7% share in Midsummer bid £1.88m for the latter.
In August 1985 Hoskins bought the Rainbow & Dove, Charles Street, from Allied, and were planning to build an estate in London. In the October they bought the Waterside Inn. Then in November, Hoskins Brewery plc was formed, with 3 pubs including the tap. There was a BES share issue, through Oceana Investment Management Ltd, to raise between £1.2m and £2.1m. This consisted of 3½m shares of 50p at 60p, with the money being needed to repay loans.
In February 1987 they opened the Clock Warehouse at Shardlow, near the old Smiths and CBB brewery sites. This had previously been a small museum and became Hoskins Wharf and later the Canal Tavern. In July, Premium at 1050º was launched to replace Old Nigel during summer.
Elsewhere, financial issues were growing. In April 1985, Netherton Ales had been set up to buy Doris Pardoe, Old Swan Brewery, based at a famous old home-brew pub at Netherton in the West Midlands, but losses of £60,000 led to Hoskins buying the Old Swan for £250,000. The intention was to continue brewing, with sales through Hoskins’ 5 pubs. The brewing would be supervised by Hoskins’ Head Brewer Nigel Burdett, and returned to its 1034º OG, with an intended 28 barrels per week.
They had also considered buying J. P. Simpkiss, another small scale brewer in the West Midlands, but were beaten by Greenall Whitley & Co. Ltd who promptly closed it.
The Leicester capacity was 60 barrels per week, with production averaging some 40 barrels. They owned 6 pubs, together with the Waterside hotel and a country club in Warwickshire, and had plans for further pubs. The business was valued at £2.5m and they were looking to raise a further £1m to finance the expansion.
The Waterside was sold to Whitbread, but in turn Hoskins bought 6 pubs from Allied plus the Bradgate Arms free house at Cropston. The purchase included:-
- Mash Tub, Melton Mowbray
- Golden Fleece, Leicester Street
- Ray’s Arms, Heanor, Derbyshire
- Black Lion, Loughborough
- Albert, Tamworth
However, at Netherton, the Ma Pardoe brewer George Cooksey and his assistant were sacked because of the sales decline and quality problems. In the October Nigel Burdett, the Hoskins brewer, also brewed at the Old Swan. Despite these problems, Hoskins sales were up to £1,494,000 from £899,000.
In March 1989, Doris Pardoe, Old Swan Brewery was sold to Wiltshire Brewing Company for £304,125, including Hoskins 10% of Netherton Ales. However in August 1990, there were problems with the BES buy-back of Netherton Ales shares which lead to a High Court writ on behalf of Mercia Venture Capital. Hoskins now had an estate of 11 pubs and were considering joining the Unlisted Securities Market, together with the possibility of increasing the brewing capacity by 50%.
However, in September 1991 the AGM reported a £167,000 loss in the year to March, and the shares were at 40p compared to the high of 120p. They also failed to buy 18 pubs from Bass.
A new business, T Hoskins Ltd, was formed in 1992, with BJ (Barrie) Hoar as the Chairman, the other director being Adrian Robert Hoar. The brewer was ND Burdett. The Annual Report in March 1992 stated, “this year has been, on the whole, the most testing ever experienced by your board of directors, and it has contained all the economic ingredients for a commercial calamity.” However, they had managed a profit of £83,060 and the 3 houses were all profitable. They had also bought a small managed house in Burton on Trent and two tenancies in Nottingham, but felt that it was not a viable proposition to expand the licensed house estate and it would be prudent to reduce debt instead.
At the time, Hoskins employed some 4 people in manufacturing, 5 in administration and 87 in distribution. The tangible fixed assets were some £4m.
In August 1992, Elizabeth Ryan Holdings, an East Anglian pubs and hotels group business, took a 3% stake; although the Hoars still owned 30%. In November the Ryan share had risen to 13%; however Richard Cattermole of the company pulled his proposed resolution for management change, one week before the EGM on 18th November. Hoskins sold 8 of their 15 pubs to Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries for £2.45m to reduce debts.
In April 1993 there was a further threat as Richard Holman acquired some 2.25% of the business, causing shares to rise to 55p, the highest price since 1991. In July 1993, there was news of a planned reverse take-over by the Fatty Arbuckle chain run by ex-Midsummer Leisure chief Adam Page for £4.3m, based on £2.1m cash and 4m new shares. The Hoars would step down and Page would become Chairman and Chief Executive. However on the due date of 16th July, the relevant shareholder notifications had failed to materialise. Non-executive director David Shaw MP called for the Department of Trade and Industry to investigate.
In August 1993, Holman’s share had increased to 7.4% and he was calling for a special meeting, particularly as the company results had not been issued. In the meantime, the Page deal had lapsed. In October, the Hoars sold the business to Howard Hodgson who had made his money in the family funeral business, and some thought this might be a message for the future of the brewery. Robert Hoar stood down from the board, but Barrie remained as a non-executive director.
The new owners intended to increase from 1,300 barrels to 5,000 barrel per annum. They brought in a former Scottish & Newcastle account director Philip Thistlewaite to run the business. They also planned to expand from 6 back to 15 pubs and gain free trade accounts to reach the capacity of around 130 barrels per week.
They hoped to push Hoskins’ Premium as a free trade and guest ale brand, possibly at the expense of some of the other brews. They also considered bottling Premium. However, Nigel Burdett the Head Brewer commented on the previous lack of investment in the brewing plant, citing £23,000 on fermenters and £5,000 on a cask washer, with the rest of the equipment dating back to the foundation of the brewery. There were no filters or chilling, but they were looking at the possibility of a small centrifuge to help get consistency.
Despite the good intentions, the business lost £830,000 in the six months to September 1993. It was renamed Halkin Holding, with more plans to expand. At an EGM on 12th January 1994 it was agreed to buy the Ronson luxury goods business for £10m and LGW, the duty-free trader at Gatwick, for £9.5m. September 1994 saw half year profits of £50,000 from the 6 pubs.
On 9th January 1995, there was a management buyout costing some £1.7m, followed by the doubling of production to 80 barrels per week to supply the 5 pubs and the free trade. The business was renamed Tom Hoskins Brewery plc, but was in receivership soon afterwards.
In March 1996, the Cherryhawk pub chain, based in Northampton, bought the brewery and its two pubs and then in May made a reverse take-over of Hoskins Inns plc. The business was re-named Tom Hoskins. They retained the brewer Andy Allen, with some 11 years experience of the business.
The beer range would be all malt, mainly Marris Otter, but with some crystal and wheat malts. They would use amber malt for colouring, instead of the previous use of caramel. Challenger hops were brought back, to give the characteristic bitterness and the Bitter would be dry hopped with East Kent Goldings.
They were still using the original mash tun and copper and one of the fermenting vats from 1913. However, they intended to re-line the others with stainless steel and bring them back into use to create a working museum. They were looking to raise capacity to 7,000 barrels, compared with the actual production of 2,000 barrels per annum. National distribution would be through Beer Seller and there was also a contract to supply Mansfield Brewery Co. Ltd with Churchill’s Pride.
The business now owns 14 pubs, mainly in Northamptonshire, plus the brewery tap and the Fountain in Leicester. Old Nigel was brought back, albeit at a lower gravity of 5.5% abv. The emphasis would be on: “A Truly Satisfying Pint”. As well as producing Hoskins’ Bitter and Tom’s Gold, available all year round, Hoskins also re-launched Churchill’s Pride as a premium beer. This would be available not only in cask, but also in bottle conditioned form, with a 5.1% abv, in time for the millennium. In addition, Double Zero was their exclusive millennium ale and they developed a range of Brewer’s Choice beers, with a different beer for each and every month of the year. They also produce Old Nigel as 5.5% abv winter warmer, described by the brewer as “russet in colour with an explosion of roasted malt”.
The business is now listed on the AIM as Tom Hoskins plc, with a head office at Navigation House, 149-151 Bridge Street, Northampton. The Chairman is R Ellert and Chief Executive is DL Clarke. The current output is 2,200 barrels per annum. The business has 87 employees, 14 pubs, 2 disco-bars and a night club. These represent assets of £2.7m, but the turnover in 1997 produced a loss on ordinary activities before tax of £66,254.
In August 1998, Hoskins had bought the award winning Olde Coach House at Ashby St Ledgers and were looking to develop the restaurant and accommodation. The intention is an estate of 50 houses “The Tom Hoskins Traditional Ale and Food Houses”.
The workforce at the brewery increased by some 50%, with Head Brewer Andy Allen also being joined by assistant brewer Steve Gamble. In addition to their own beers, they allow guest beers as well as keg and lager. They were also investing in a new 12 barrel fermenter/ racking tank, to boost output beyond 40 barrels per week to keep up with the increased demand. They were also planning a three to five year programme to re-line the old fermenters with stainless steel.
As well as dealing with increased sales of both beer and brewery related merchandising, such as clothing, the business staff organised their first, of a proposed annual, beer festival in September 1999.
In addition to this commercial success, the brewery was being developed as a working museum, to be fully open to the public in the year 2000.