 | |
| Company type | Limited company |
|---|---|
| Carlsberg Marston's | |
| Industry | Brewery |
| Predecessor | Carlsberg UK • Brewery business of Marston's plc |
| Founded | November 2, 2020 [1] |
| Headquarters | Wolverhampton, England, UK |
| Owner | Carlsberg Group |
| Website | www |
Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company (CMBC) is a British subsidiary of Carlsberg Group created in November 2020 by the merger of Carlsberg's UK business and Marston's breweries. Marston's plc retained a 40% ownership until July 2024.
In May 2020, it was announced that subject to competition law and shareholder approval, Marston's plc would merge its brewing business with Carlsberg UK (the United Kingdom arm of Carlsberg Group), into a joint venture valued at £780m. Marston's took a 40% stake in the joint venture and received up to £273m in cash. The deal involved Marston's six breweries and distribution depots, but not its 1,400 pubs. [2] [3] The merger was approved by the Competition and Markets Authority on 9 October 2020. [4]
Marston's announced on 8 July 2024 that it had decided to sell their 40% share in CMBC to Carlsberg for £206m in order to focus on running the pub business. Carlsberg also announced on the same day that it was buying the soft drinks company Britvic for £3.3b, merging Britvic and CMBC into a single company called Carlsberg Britvic. [5] The deal to acquire Marston's 40% stake in CMBC was completed on 21 July 2024. [6]
CMBC announced on 4 August 2024 that the head office in Wolverhampton would be converted into a block of 18 flats. [7] CMBC announced on 7 October 2024 that the Bank's Brewery in Wolverhampton would be closed down by Autumn 2025 as part of a restructuring of its' brewery network. [8] CMBC announced in November 2024 that 11 of its beers would be discontinued in pubs in the UK by the end of 2024. [9]
The company owns and operates three breweries: [10]
The brewery was one of the last major brewers to use Burton Union Sets, a system whereby fermentation barrels and troughs were linked together by pipework. [11]
Half of all the company's beer is bottled. [12] Marston's Pedigree is brewed in Burton-upon-Trent: it is a 4.3% ABV bitter. [13] Introduced in 1952, it is Marston's flagship brand, selling 150,000 hectolitres in 2010. [13] It is the only beer to use the oak Burton Union System so that it is fermented in wood; the ingredients are mineral enriched Burton Water, malted barley, and Fuggles and Goldings hops. [13]
Marston's acquired Thwaites' main brewing arm, including the Wainwright brand, in March 2015 for £25.1 million. Marston's had been brewing Thwaites' beers since early 2014 after Thwaites main brewery in Blackburn was shut down. [14]
Other beers distributed by the company include the 1664 brand, which was acquired from Heineken N.V. in June 2023. [15]
From 2007 to 2017, Marston's sponsored the England and Wales Cricket Board and Marston's Pedigree was the official beer of the England Cricket team. They were exclusive beer advertisers and suppliers at home test matches. [16]
Ringwood Brewery is a brand of beer owned by Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company, and was formerly a small brewery on the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire, England, near the Dorset border. It produced mainly cask ales and some bottled beers.
John Smith's Brewery in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England, produces beers including John Smith's, the highest selling bitter in the United Kingdom since the mid-1990s.
Carlsberg A/S is a Danish multinational brewer. Founded in 1847 by J. C. Jacobsen, the company's headquarters is in Copenhagen, Denmark. Since Jacobsen's death in 1887, the majority owner of the company has been the Carlsberg Foundation. The company's flagship brand is Carlsberg. The company employs around 41,000 people, primarily in Europe and Asia. Carlsberg is currently the 6th largest brewery in the world based on revenue.
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.
Britvic plc is a British producer of soft drinks based in Hemel Hempstead, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. It produces soft drinks under its own name, as well as several other brands.
Bass Brewery was founded in 1777 by William Bass in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The main brand was Bass Pale Ale, once the highest-selling beer in the UK. By 1877, Bass had become the largest brewery in the world, with an annual output of one million barrels. Its pale ale was exported throughout the British Empire, and the company's red triangle became the UK's first registered trade mark.
Wychwood Brewery was a brewery and pub chain based in Witney, Oxfordshire, England. the brand is currently owned owned by Carlsberg Marston's. Hobgoblin, a 5.2% abv brown ale, was the company's flagship brand.
McEwan's is a brand of beer owned by Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company. It was originally brewed by William McEwan's Fountain Brewery in Edinburgh, Scotland. The McEwan's brand passed to Heineken in 2008 after their purchase of Scottish & Newcastle's British operations. Heineken sold the brand to Wells & Young's in 2011, who sold their brewing operation, including the McEwan brand to Marston's in 2017. Cans and bottles are now brewed in Bedford, England.
Thwaites Brewery is a regional brewery founded in 1807 by Daniel Thwaites in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, now located near Mellor in the Ribble Valley. Part of the company was sold to Marston's in 2015, and the original brewery was demolished in 2019.
Kronenbourg Brewery is a brewery founded in 1664 by Geronimus Hatt in the Free Imperial City of Straßburg, Holy Roman Empire. The name comes from the area where the brewery relocated in 1850. The company is owned by the Danish multinational Carlsberg. The premium brand is Kronenbourg 1664, a 4.6% abv pale lager.
Beer has been brewed in England for thousands of years. As a beer brewing country, it is known for top fermented cask beer which finishes maturing in the cellar of the pub rather than at the brewery and is served with only natural carbonation.
Brewing in Ireland has a long history. Production currently stands at over 8 million hectolitres, and approximately half the alcohol consumed is beer.
Wrexham Lager is a lager brewed in Wrexham, north-east Wales, tracing its heritage to 1881. After the original brewery's closure in 2000, the brand was revived by the Roberts family in 2011 using an older recipe.
Jennings Brewery was established as a family concern in 1828 in the village of Lorton, between Buttermere and Cockermouth in the Lake District, England. The brewery was started by John Jennings Snr, son of William Jennings. Jennings brewed exclusively in Lorton until 1874 when its present home, the Castle Brewery in Cockermouth, was purchased. The Lorton brewery closed some five years later.
Younger's Brewery was a brewery in Edinburgh. Established in 1749, it became one of the city’s main commercial enterprises, supplying domestic and foreign markets.
Tetley's Brewery(Joshua Tetley & Son Ltd) was an English regional brewery founded in 1822 by Joshua Tetley in Hunslet, now a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire. The beer was originally produced at the Leeds Brewery, which was later renamed the Leeds Tetley Brewery to avoid confusion with a microbrewery of the same name.
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 and a tied estate of 75 houses. It is one of the oldest industrial concerns in Hartlepool, and has historically been one of the largest employers.
Beer is produced through steeping a sugar source 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 used in ancient Egypt. Descriptions of various beer recipes can be found in Sumerian writings, some of the oldest known writing of any sort. Brewing is done in a brewery by a brewer, and the brewing industry is part of most western economies. In 19th century Britain, technological discoveries and improvements such as Burtonisation and the Burton Union system significantly changed beer brewing.
Marston's plc is a British pub and hotel operator. Founded as a brewery by John Marston in 1834, it is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Beer in Myanmar has a long history of homebrewing, with traditional brews made from rice, millet, or corn, often flavored with fruits, spices, or medicinal herbs. Commercial brewing of beer in Myanmar commenced in 1886 and until 2015 was dominated by a single producer, Myanmar Brewery Ltd.