Whitbread & Co. Ltd

Chiswell Street South side c.1900

Chiswell Street North side (aka Sun Court) c.1900

One of a large number of adverts issued by the company over its lifetime.

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.

• In 1953, they acquired Kirkstall Brewery Co Ltd of Leeds and closed the brewery in January 1983.

• Dale & Co Ltd of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire were acquired in 1954 and brewing ceased there in 1958.

• In 1961, they acquired Flowers Breweries Ltd (Luton and Stratford-upon-Avon). The Stratford brewery closed in 1968 and the Luton brewery (ex J W Green) in 1969.

• Tennant Brothers Ltd of Sheffield were acquired in 1961 with 700 tied houses to become Whitbread East Pennines. Whitbreads closed the brewery in 1993.

• 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.

• In October 1963, they acquired J. Nimmo & Sons Ltd of Castle Eden with 202 tied houses, although they later sold the brewery back as a management buy-out.

• In 1964, they acquired Dutton's Blackburn Brewery Ltd with 784 tied houses. Name changed to Dutton’s Brewery Ltd in 1966 and was operated as Whitbread West Pennines Ltd until closed in 1978.

• Lacon & Co. Ltd, Falcon Brewery, Great Yarmouth were acquired in December 1965 with 354 public houses.

• 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.

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An assortment of images of the brewery

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  The cask yard

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An assortment of images of the brewery stables

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  Courtesy Colin Bridgland

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  Courtesy Colin Bridgland

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  Courtesy Colin Bridgland

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  Courtesy Colin Bridgland

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  Courtesy Colin Bridgland

An assortment of images of the brewery bottling stores

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The Chiswell Street brewery in 2011. Courtesy Steve Peck

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Entry in the Trade Mark Registry Registration No  : 10,098 Description  : Deer's head Date of Application  : 8/12/1876 Used Prior to 1875?  : 6 years Registration No  : 447,808 Description  : Words "THE FOREST" Date of Application  : 26/04/1924 Used Prior to 1875?  : NO Registration No  : 448,998 Description  : Pioneer brands Family Ale Labels Date of Application  : 04/06/1924 Used Prior to 1875?  : NO Registration No  : 485,346 Description  : Advert Date of Application  : 29/10/1927 Used Prior to 1875?  : NO Registration No  : 501,126 Description  : Double brown label Date of Application  : 20/03/1928 Used Prior to 1875?  : NO Registration No  : 549,806 Description  : Words "WHITBREAD" Date of Application  : 24/03/1934 Used Prior to 1875?  : NO