Glass is 'half full' at Brains

The award-winning Welsh brewer and pub owner is full of 'positive thinking' for the future. By Nicola Collenette.

No-one was more surprised at the outcome of Wales' most prestigious business award than the chief executive of the winning company - Scott Waddington of Cardiff-based brewer and pubco SA Brain.

The Welsh Company of the Year award was scooped by Brains at this year's Business Awards for Wales ceremony, run by the Western Mail.

The award, which is sponsored by the London Stock Exchange, recognises the outstanding performance made by a company with its HQ in Wales and all the nominations are secret.

"It was a genuine surprise to us," said Scott.

"There is a lot of affection for Brains among our customers but for years we've been seen as very reserved and have tended to keep ourselves to ourselves.

"We are starting to engage the media more than ever before and be more open.

"The win was a fantastic boost for our staff."

The judges based their decision on three categories: evidence of past, present and future job creation, the endorsement of high technology and marketing performance. Companies also had to demonstrate an overall commitment to being based in Wales.

When the win is coupled with a restructuring of the board 18 months ago, it is apparent this traditional family brewer is definitely looking onward and upward.

Not that this means a shift away from its Welsh heartland - not for now anyway.

Scott said: "We hope that our beers will feature as far afield as pubs in Newcastle but we are not looking to buy pubs there at the moment.

"We recognise there is a natural advantage to the business being in Wales and we want to exploit that."

Scott says he wants to fill in the gaps in Brains' Welsh estate before it starts moving over the border along the M4 and M5 corridor.

The company has the means to buy if the right properties come up.

"We have a £50m revolving credit facility to use if the right acquisitions are there," says Scott.

"The plan is to continue to grow the managed estate. We were buying pubs out of the core region and have now brought that focus back into Wales. We are very well respected in Greater Cardiff but we have a lot of gaps in South Wales.

"We've got just over 100 managed pubs and we could easily double that if the right pubs are there - we're not just going to do it for the numbers.

"We'll probably buy about 10 per year but if a decent package came along, say 20 or 30 pubs, we'd certainly put ourselves in a position to buy them."

Despite having these plans, Scott remained tight-lipped as to whether there were any bulk deals in the pipeline.

The pub company side of the business operates 219 pubs and famously saw its Brains Best bitter served at the wedding of Michael Douglas and Welsh icon Catherine Zeta Jones.

In the past 18 months, the company has invested in a pub refurbishment programme, as well as new branding and a high profile advertising campaign for its flagship beer.

This is in keeping with the new thrust of the company, which, according to Scott, is "our brand, our pubs and our people".

Four of the company's most popular ales - Smooth, Dark, SA and Bitter - have undergone a transformation to reflect the company's new dynamic outlook.

The repackaging is the latest stage in Brains' multi-million pound "more positive thinking from Brains" campaign, which was launched in February.

The second round of market research undertaken by the company earlier this year revealed that Welsh people tended to look on the bright side of life. Three quarters of the thousand people surveyed in Wales described a pint glass with half a pint of beer in it as "half full".

The initial round of polling was conducted last year as part of a project to look closely at the Brains brand. The perceptions of consumers, customers and staff were explored and the results also reflected this optimism. The company used the results as the basis of its "positive" thinking campaign.

Even Brains' famous red dragon logo has had a makeover. Instead of looking left, or backward, he has been slimmed down and turned around to become a more forward-looking mascot.

And under the management of new board retail director Philip Lay the managed estate has been comprehensively reviewed and reshaped. Last year underlying sales grew by 2.3 per cent and food sales by 34 per cent.

"We've been lucky in that our key shareholders recognised that the business had to move on and they've allowed us to get on and do it," says Scott.

"I'm proud how the business has changed - it's certainly countered some of the preconceptions people have of regional brewers.

"I think it's true to say that certain brewers constrain the pub business by thinking of the brewery first.

"But in Brains the pub company is separate - it's seen as a totally separate business to the brewing side."

Brains has focused its attentions on its people too, embarking on a new programme of staff training.

"A key area of the business is our people," said Scott.

"We hired a new human resources manager about a year ago. The recruitment team now has an increased budget and we've invested a lot more in training."

Latest developments​

The latest venture for the family brewer is the redevelopment of the Old Brewery Quarter in the heart of Cardiff's city centre.

The former Brains brewery site is being jointly developed by the brewer, Countryside Properties plc and Mansford Holdings plc.

The redevelopment cost £25m and the premises have been transformed into a mix of city centre restaurants, bars, offices and loft-style apartments.

Brains will open a new pub on the site in late October and other outlets, such as the Hard Rock Café and a nightclub, are to open around November.

A spokesperson said: "An integral part of the development will be the retention of many historical and cultural features, including the original brewery vaults.

"Combined with innovative and contemporary design, the scheme will provide a striking new open air café quarter that will provide a unique shopping and leisure environment in the heart of the city."

The total investment value is thought to be around £18.5m.

Scott Waddington​

• Swansea-born Scott Waddington has a degree in economics and accounting from Reading University and began his career as a graduate trainee with Bass in 1984.
• He gained experience in Bass' freetrade sales, retail and marketing departments and was appointed a brand manager in 1989.
• By the end of his career with Bass he had risen to director of sales responsible for retail groups.
• In 1994 he joined Allied Domecq as sales director for on-trade in the northern region and was subsequently appointed by Carlsberg-Tetley as business development director and then retail sales director for the take-home division.
• Before his appointment in 2001 as chief executive in 2001 at Brains, Scott was retail director at Century Inns - prior to the takeover by Enterprise Inns.

Brains history​

In 1882 the Old Brewery in the heart of Cardiff's city centre was purchased by Samuel Arthur Brain and his uncle Joseph Benjamin Brain. The company has remained in family ownership ever since and the present chairman, Christopher Brain, is a direct descendant of one of the founders.

Brains purchased South Wales' other leading independent brewer Crown Buckley in 1997 and moved to Cardiff's ex-Bass brewery in 1999.

The company now operates around 220 pubs across South Wales, the West Country and within Cardiff's city centre.

Brains profits​

Brains a