Greene King Brewery

Greene King

Type	Public
Traded as	LSE: GNK
Industry	Alcoholic beverage
Founded	1799
Headquarters	Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk England
Key people	Tim Bridge, (Chairman) Rooney Anand, (CEO)
Products	Beer
Revenue	£984.1 million (2010)
Operating income	£211.3 million (2010)
Profit	£79.9 million (2010)
Website	www.greeneking.co.uk

Greene King (LSE: GNK) is a British brewery established in 1799 in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. It has grown to become one of the largest British owned breweries in the UK through a series of takeovers which have been the subject of some criticism. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 share index. It currently holds 2% of the UK beer market, although its share has been growing for some time.

History

Greene King's Westgate brewery is in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. It was established in 1799 by Benjamin Greene, the great-grandfather of the brothers Graham, Hugh and Raymond who have all gone on to become noteworthy in their respective fields of literature, television and mountaineering. There is a visitor centre next to the brewery, and tours are run regularly throughout the week. The company also owns pubs and hotels including the Hungry Horse pub chain. Greene King dominates the pub scene in many parts of East Anglia with a large number of both urban and rural establishments. It also has a stand named after it at Ipswich Town's football ground, Portman Road. The company has won awards for its pubs in recent years, and Greene King IPA won the Gold award at the 2004 Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) Great British Beer Festival in the Bitter category and runner-up in the Champion Beer Of Britain category.

Business expansion

Greene King plaque on the side of a pub in Sudbury, Suffolk

As of 16 April 2007, the Managed Pub division operated 510 local pubs and 280 Destination Pubs (i.e. food-led or hotels). This division was restructured in April 2007 with the appointment of Jonathan Lawson as MD for local pubs, and Jonathan Webster for Destination Pubs. A further 1400 pubs are operated on a tenancy or lease basis by the Pub Partners division.

Greene King has grown both organically and via merger and acquisition. Key acquisitions in recent years include Morland (1999) inc, Ruddles, Morrells brewery (2002), Ridley's (2005), Belhaven (2005) & Hardys and Hansons plc (2006). Of these, only the Belhaven Brewery remains open, with the surviving brews of the other three now being produced at Bury St Edmunds.

In August 2007 Greene King announced it had acquired the 35-strong Loch Fyne fish-restaurant chain.

In 2010, Greene King started a new franchise from within called Surf 'n Turf to add to their other divisions of Locals, Hungry Horse, Old English Inns and Pub Partners.

In 2011, Greene King made further acquisitions, buying Cloverleaf, Realpubs and the Capital Pub Company .

Expansion criticism

Main article: Lewes Arms controversy

Greene King's ongoing business expansion has sometimes been the subject of criticism. As a result of its active acquisition policy, it has come to be known by beer protesters as Greedy King (or Greed/Greede King). The British consumer group CAMRA, claim that Greene King is in danger of becoming a monopoly by buying out other breweries and thus potentially limiting choice for the pub consumer. These claims are based on the fact that Greene King proposes the buyout of these breweries while not promising to continue the sale of the current range of ales. Production of key product lines has previously often been switched to Bury St Edmunds while lesser brands cease production. Groups like CAMRA generally oppose such brewery closures and any loss of variety in cask-conditioned, or "real" ales. The growing consumer reaction to this shift was demonstrated towards the end of 2006 when a pub in Lewes, East Sussex started a well-publicised protest against Greene King for removing the locally produced Harveys Sussex Best Bitter from sale, while continuing to sell other guest beers.

Brands

Greene King's beers are sold under several brands:

Greene King

Abbot Ale

• Abbot Ale - A premium bitter (5.0% abv) first brewed in the 1950s. The ingredients are pale, crystal and amber malts; with First Gold, Challenger and Fuggles hops - the Fuggles being late-hopped. In 2007 Abbot Reserve (6.5% abv) was introduced as a winter special in the cask, with year round availability in the bottle.
• IPA - A cask bitter (3.6% abv) served in pubs and cans available from supermarkets and off-licences nationally. It is made using Challenger and English First Gold hops.
• IPA Export - A stronger cask bitter (5.0% abv) IPA available from off-licenses in bottles, also made using Challenger and English First Gold hops.
• Olde Suffolk/Strong Suffolk Vintage - A strong old ale (6% abv) that is a blend of two ales, one being aged in oak for 2 years. It is available in bottles.
• St Edmunds - A crisp golden ale (4.2% abv) recently released. it is available in both bottles and cask nationally.
• Greene King XX Mild (3% ABV). A dark mild ale available on cask. Black and Crystal malts, Northdown hops.

Ruddles

• Ruddles County - A 4.7% bitter available on cask nationally and pasteurised in bottles in most British supermarkets.
• Ruddles Best Bitter - A 3.7% session bitter with national distribution.
• Ruddles Orchard - This 4.2% cask bitter consists of Ruddles County with the addition of apple concentrate. Also available pasteurised in bottles.

Morland

Main article: Old Speckled Hen

• "Old Speckled Hen" is a popular bitter, available both as a cask ale and pasteurised in bottles. First brewed in 1979 by Morland Brewery in Abingdon, Oxfordshire to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the MG car company setting up in Abingdon, and named after the MG factory's MG car - the paint splattered Owld' Speckled 'Un. Brewed since 1999 by Greene King. Greene King has retained the strain of yeast first used in 1896.

Can of Old Speckled Hen

In August 2006, Greene King announced that the abv of draught Old Speckled Hen (cask and keg) would be reduced from 5.2% to 4.5%, though the bottled and canned versions would remain at 5.2%

In 2008, Greene King released a vintage oaked, super premium version of Old Speckled Hen, named Old Crafty Hen (6.5%)

• Hen's Tooth - A 6.5% bottle conditioned beer.
• Tanners Jack - abv 4.4% - Regularly seen across the country as a guest beer, often found in Wetherspoons, like many Greene King beers. Also available in 500ml bottle.
• Morland Original - abv 4.0% - Not seen as much as it was but often pops up in the old Morland heartlands. Also available in 500ml bottle.

Ridley's brands

• Old Bob - Still popular in Essex despite the beer's new journey from Bury St Edmunds; it is 5.1% and available both on cask and bottled.

Hardy's & Hansons brands

• Olde Trip - A 4.3% Premium Ale. Named in honour of the Nottingham inn Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem, which claims to be the oldest inn in Britain. As of September 2007 this was for sale in the Brewery Museum in 500ml bottles.

Sponsorship

Greene King sponsored Ipswich Town Football Club during the late 1990s and early 2000s, notably at the time of their Division One playoff triumph in 2000 and fifth-place Premier League finish the following year.

On 8 October 2009 Greene King were named home shirt sponsors for Cambridge United F.C. The three year deal also includes the clubs Main Stand being renamed the Greene King IPA Main Stand.

Greene King became the main shirt sponsor for Welsh rugby league team the Crusaders on 28 January 2010.

In June 2011 Greene King became the main shirt sponsor for Mansfield Town Football Club.

External links

• Greene King web site
• Old Speckled Hen web site
• Beer Mad
• RateBeer
• Quaffale
• Greene King Lease A Pub
• Greene King buys Morrells Brewery