Fuller's thrives almost two hundred on

As Fuller's prepares to enter a third century, the brewer continues to thrive. Mark Ludmon reports.

"The brewery business is going flourishingly but we must not expect all sunshine and fair weather," wrote John Fuller shortly after buying into a small beer company in West London in the early 19th Century.

His great-great-great grandson, Anthony, would no doubt sympathise with this as, 170 years later, he steers his family's brewer, Fuller's, into a third century.

Its profits and turnover continue to rise, its ale brands are building their national profile and its pubs and stylish bars consistently win awards.

As chairman of the Independent Family Brewers of Britain, Anthony Fuller works alongside descendants of the founding families of Fuller, Smith & Turner.

His cousin Richard Fuller is beer sales director and his nephew, James, is an area manager at Fuller's Inns.

Michael and Tim Turner, managing director and commercial director, are great-grandsons of John Turner, who became a partner with the Fullers in 1845.

But the business is not languishing in the past, relying on the heritage of a brewery that has been producing beer since the 17th Century.

Investment in its 128-strong managed estate has been spearheaded by retail director Simon Emeny, who has built up a team of experienced pub retailers.

They include Harri Owen, previously operations manager for Pitcher & Piano, who has now become director of a bars division.

Emeny said: "We realised that, if we were going to go forwards, we had to start developing retail offers that were more contemporary and female-friendly and suitable to who our customers were."

This year it has steadily grown its chain of stylish bars, The Fine Line, which have proved their success in healthy sales and awards.

The seventh Fine Line has opened in Clapham in South London, soon to be followed by more, including one in the Minories in the City of London and another in nearby Holborn.

The first three sites in its modern pub chain, the Broadwalk, are achieving phenomenal sales, with Port Solent marina in Portsmouth, Hampshire, earning more money than any other pub in the estate.

It has launched some distinctive one-off outlets, including One of Two wine bar in the City of London and retro café-bar Vesbar in Shepherd's Bush in West London.

In October it is opening the more traditional pub-style Bar Interlude in Balham, South London.

It is also building a more traditional pub in the new-look state-of-the-art Paddington mainline station, which it hopes will lead to further sites at other rail terminals.

Both the Broadwalk and The Fine Line have taken Fuller's Inns further out of Greater London, to Bristol and Reading, but it has no plans to go further north than Birmingham.

"We are a small company and we will only be successful by understanding our customers," Emeny said. "If we were to go somewhere like Newcastle or Liverpool, the market is utterly different and we would lose our competitive edge.

"There are enough opportunities for us in the South which is very prosperous for us. We continue to look at other companies in terms of acquisitions but we have not found anything with the right fit or the right price."

Only 38 new outlets have been acquired over the past three years, reflecting the emphasis on quality rather than quantity.

But Fuller's is not about to dump its past for the sake of trendy style bars — the majority of its estate is classed as Ale & Pie, English inn-restaurants and traditional quality locals.

"We still make an effort to invest in our traditional estate." Emeny said. "The market has seen local pubs come back into fashion but not all of them will thrive. Those that can't provide customers with what they want will struggle."

Over the past two years it has poured £6.5m into refurbishing 23 of its traditional managed pubs. It also continues to invest in its 100-strong tenanted estate although on a smaller scale.

City analysts have dismissed traditional vertically integrated family brewers as a dodo, claiming they cannot cope with running such a wide variety of businesses.

Fuller's bucks this trend and can argue that it is focused — for instance, it has turned its back on nitrokeg and has opted not to venture into the destination family pub market.

Its beer company also bucks the trend for real ale, with cask ale volumes rising by five per cent last year against a national decline.

London Pride, which rose by six per cent, is ranked as a national ale brand — this year's Publican Market Report places it as the 10th most stocked product in the cask and smooth ale market, and the seventh most popular with licensees.

John Roberts, who last month rose from marketing director to beer and brands director, said the strength of the London Pride brand meant that Fuller's was able to avoid discounting because customers were prepared to pay a premium for a reliable, consistent quality ale.

He said: "The national brewers single-mindedly walked away from cask ale in favour of nitrokeg and there isn't one regional brewer big enough to change the fortunes of the whole market."

Fuller's is benefiting from the trend for pubs to stock fewer ale brands, concentrating on ones that "customers have a lot of faith and trust in", Roberts said.

"Some brands will rise up and take a bigger and bigger share of the market while lesser brands will go out of business or at least struggle."

ESB sales have risen after a new livery was launched last October, which is set to be matched by Chiswick after a redesign is unveiled this month.

With the dominance of cooler lagers, Fuller's has also been encouraging pubs to serve its ales at a slightly lower "refreshing" temperature — London Pride is recommended as low as 11°C while its Summer Ale is sold at 8°C.

The management is looking forward to October's rugby World Cup, exploiting the brewer's long-established links with the sport. It is advertising on Sky TV and London's ITV network, Carlton, during matches, alongside poster campaigns and promotions in pubs, several of which are near rugby's HQ in Twickenham.

"This summer has been kind to us with beer volumes in a reasonably healthy position," Roberts said. "We are optimistic but it's difficult out there and the market is not going in our favour.

"Concentration of retail ownership is a concern because there are fewer people to deal with and those people are gaining stronger and stronger buying power.

"It's mind-boggling how tough the road ahead is. We are confident we have the team, the product and the resources to really make it happen and increase our position in the market in the long term."