A pub chain is a group of pubs or bars operating under a unified brand image. Pubs within a chain are tied houses and can, generally, only sell products which the chain owner sanctions. Pubs in a chain normally display their chain branding prominently and may also feature shared aspects, such as menus and staff uniforms. [2] [3]
The owner is often called a pubco and the chain may exist as a single operation or it may be a division of a larger company, such as a brewery.
Pub chains are an evolution of the tied house system. During the latter half of the nineteenth century increased competition between the large breweries led many of them to buy up local pubs and directly employ publicans to run them, in an attempt to secure markets for their products. Although tied houses had existed in some cities since the seventeenth century, this period has come to be known as the birth of the tied house system. As well as guaranteeing markets for a brewery, the tied house system allowed an uninterrupted supply chain, directly from the brewery to the pub, keeping costs down. A key difference to the system largely operating today is that most tied houses are now owned by pub chains, known as pubco's, who align themselves with specific suppliers in order to obtain big discounts, therefore reducing profits for the brewery.
In the United Kingdom, there are two types of pub chain, reflecting the ownership of the pub and the style of operations. Pubs are either tenanted or managed.
Pub chains such as Punch Taverns and Ei Group own thousands of tenanted pubs which are not branded to retain uniqueness. They are controlled in the brands of beer, ales and lagers and sometimes other beverages that they may sell.
Pub chains operating managed houses are frequently run as brands, located near a high street but rarely in predominantly residential areas.
Multiple-held pubs do exist in countries other than the United Kingdom, but due to most countries having different accepted systems of ownership and supply, they do not hold anywhere near the level of control over the market as they do in the UK.[ citation needed ]
A pub is a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in the late 17th century, to differentiate private houses from those open to the public as alehouses, taverns and inns. Today, there is no strict definition, but CAMRA states a pub has four characteristics:
Heineken N.V. is a Dutch multinational brewing company, founded in 1864 by Gerard Adriaan Heineken in Amsterdam. As of 2019, Heineken owns over 165 breweries in more than 70 countries. It produces 348 international, regional, local and speciality beers and ciders and employs approximately 85,000 people.
Marston's plc is a British pub and hotel operator. Founded by John Marston in 1834, it is listed on the London Stock Exchange. Marston's disposed of its brewing operations in 2020, selling the assets to a newly formed joint venture with the Carlsberg Group to create the Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company (CMBC), in which Marston's plc holds a 40% share.
Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries, which typically produce smaller amounts of beer, than larger "macro" breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as emphasising enthusiasm, new flavours, and varied brewing techniques.
Brains is a regional brewery based in Cardiff, Wales. It was founded in 1882 by Samuel Arthur Brain. At its peak, the company controlled more than 250 pubs in South Wales, Mid Wales and the West Country but the brewer sold most of its pub estate in 2022. The company took over Crown Buckley Brewery in Llanelli in 1997 and Hancock's Brewery in 1999. In 2000, Brains moved to the former Hancock's Brewery just south of Cardiff Central railway station. The Old Brewery, in Cardiff city centre, has been developed into a modern bar and restaurant complex.
Boddingtons Brewery was a regional brewery in Manchester, England, which owned pubs throughout the North West. Boddingtons was best known for Boddingtons Bitter (Boddies), a straw-golden, hoppy bitter which was one of the first beers to be packaged in cans containing a widget, giving it a creamy draught-style head.
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.
In the United Kingdom, a tied house is a public house required to buy at least some of its beer from a particular brewery or pub company. That is in contrast to a free house, which is able to choose the beers it stocks freely.
The Pabst Brewing Company is an American company that dates its origins to a brewing company founded in 1844 by Jacob Best and was, by 1889, named after Frederick Pabst. It is currently a holding company which contracts the brewing of over two dozen brands of beer and malt liquor: these include its own flagship Pabst Blue Ribbon, as well as brands from many now-defunct breweries.
Whitbread is a British multinational hotel and restaurant company headquartered in Houghton Regis, England.
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.
Samuel Smith Old Brewery, popularly known as Samuel Smith's or Sam Smith's, is an independent brewery and pub owner based in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England. It is Yorkshire's oldest brewery, founded in 1758, and one of three breweries in the town. Samuel Smith's, which is an unlimited family-owned company, produces a range including bitters, stouts, porters, lagers, and fruit beers, and is known as a highly traditional and somewhat eccentric operator of around 200 pubs due to its continued use of dray horses, bans on music and mobile devices, and, in the past, low beer prices.
Mitchells & Butlers plc runs circa 1,784 managed pubs, bars and restaurants throughout the United Kingdom. The company's headquarters are in Birmingham, England. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
Wells & Co. is the holding company of the Charles Wells Brewery and Pub Company. Charles Wells Ltd was founded in 1876 by Charles Wells in Bedford, England.
Ei Group plc, formerly known as Enterprise Inns plc, is the largest pub company in the UK, with around 5,000 properties, predominantly run as leased and tenanted pubs. Ei Group plc is headquartered in Solihull, West Midlands. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by Stonegate Pub Company in March 2020.
Grand Metropolitan plc was a leisure, manufacturing and property conglomerate headquartered in England. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it merged with Guinness plc to form Diageo in 1997.
The Supply of Beer Order 1989 and the Supply of Beer Order 1989, commonly known as the Beer Orders, were statutory instruments made by the United Kingdom Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in December 1989.
Stones Brewery was a brewery founded in 1868 by William Stones in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, and purchased by Bass Brewery in 1968. After its closure in 1999, its major brand, Stones Bitter, has continued to be produced by the Molson Coors Brewing Company.
Coffee #1 is a British coffee house chain that originated in Cardiff, Wales in 2001, and is now owned by Caffè Nero. Coffee#1 has outlets along the M4 corridor, with others in Wales and southern England.
The Pubs Code etc. Regulations 2016 were introduced by the UK Government as part of the Small Business Enterprise and Employment Act 2015. The code was passed on 14 June 2016 and implemented on 21 July 2016.
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