Flying the flag for family brewers

Stockport-based Robinsons prides itself on keeping things simple and supporting licensees whenever possible. Tony Halstead reports

Tenants of family-owned companies are, by and large, happier licensees - and that's official. A survey carried out for Stockport-based independent brewer Frederic Robinson showed hosts prefer a traditional brewer rather than a huge national pub operator.

The independent poll, commissioned by Robinsons last year, pointed to a high degree of satisfaction from tenants across the company's northern estate.

"The strong feedback we received from the survey was licensees felt confident operating a pub owned by a family brewer," says director William Robinson. "Tenants said the fact they could contact one of the family direct if they had a problem proved a very strong plus point."

No-frills tenancies

The survey's revelation that licensees like working as part of a family estate and enjoy the chance to trade on a simple "no-frills" tenancy agreement will be music to the ears of many an independent brewer.

Robinsons stresses that the survey was carried out by an independent third-party company and remained a confidential poll. Consequently, there was some discontent with beer choice and this is something the brewer says it has already acted on.

"We do not claim the survey proved everything in the garden is lovely, but generally the feedback was very positive," says Robinson. "The brewery had no access to the identity of any licensee taking part in the survey, so tenants were free to say what they liked."

The brewery promises its tenants a simple, fully-tied trading agreement with no repairs

liability and the promise of no retail-price-

index annual increase. It's a contract that

highlights the differences between the agreements offered by an independent family brewery and the complicated lease deals put forward by some of the major pubcos.

"One of the major pluses of our agreement is the attraction of a fourth-year rent review, so tenants know exactly what they will be

paying over a four-year period," says Robinson. "It's proved a big advantage when we are recruiting new tenants and underlines our

belief that if we give licensees a major package of support we will get a lot of loyalty back in return."

But the company draws the line at getting too involved in its tenants' business affairs.

"We are happy to support tenants in matters such as rating revaluations and other issues, but we draw the line at so called 'open-book accounting', which risks us being labelled as snoops," says Robinson, "though we are looking at ways we can help our people, particularly new licensees, over the difficult first 12 or 18 months of a tenancy."

Robinsons is one of a prestigious clutch of family-owned, north-west brewers where tradition and the merits of a vertically-integrated business structure continue to pay dividends. The company remains proud of its brewing heritage, nurtured since its launch in 1865, which has resulted in its brewing team picking up a host of awards over the years.

Its portfolio of permanent beers, headed by standard bitter Unicorn, Hartley's XB and multiple prize collector Old Tom, remain its standard-bearers. And like other brewers, the launch of a regular collection of seasonal beers has been of paramount importance and led the way into the important pubco guest-ale market.

Boosting barrelage

It's given volumes at the Unicorn Brewery in Stockport critical extra barrelage and important freetrade business. But as good as the beer may be when it leaves the brewery, the quality of the ale drawn up at the bar determines the quality of the product in the eye of the most important person of all - the customer.

Pub retailing and brewing are just two of the major activities carried out by the company. In the late 1960s, plans were first devised for a new packaging plant on land owned by Robinsons at Bredbury, on the outskirts of Stockport. It began as just a bolt-on to the main business of the brewery, but today has grown into a major cask-racking and bottling operation, carrying out contract work for a host of national, regional and independent brewers.

Many traditional family brewers may ap-pear to have operated without drama or change for generations, but Robinsons is a prime example of a brewer that has managed to ring the changes yet remain firmly in charge of its destiny at the same time.

Taking pride in cellars

Robinsons carries out a range of quality audits across its estate and provides a troubleshooting service for pubs in obvious difficulties.

It puts great emphasis on its annual Best Kept Bar & Cellar competition, which involves a top-to-bottom inspection of all its pubs. The competition is now in its 10th year and has paid major dividends for the company in making beer quality a key part of the pub retailing package.

This year's award arrived on the doorstep of the brewery itself when licensee Vicky Almond of the Fletchers Arms, Denton, took the big prize.

The Almond family have run tenancies with Robinsons for the past 30 years - a tenure that sums up what the brewery is all about.

A string of other pubs across the estate are also run by families with generations of service under their belts, underscoring the relationship between company and tenant.