Wells and Young's: good news for licensees

Licensees look set to be the big winners from the brewing and brands merger between Young's and Charles Wells' breweries last week.

Production is to stop at the Young's brewery in Wandsworth, London, by the end of September, when the Young's operations will merge with Charles Wells at the Eagle brewery in Bedford.

A new company, Wells & Young's, is to carry out all brewing, importing and distribution for the two brewers from October 2.

As a result the brewers' licensees will have access to all brands from both companies. Young's pubs will be better positioned to order Bombardier, Kirin lager, Corona Extra and Red Stripe, while Charles Wells pubs will be able to extend their cask ale portfolio with beers such as Young's Bitter, Young's Special and Waggledance.

In addition, Young's bottle-conditioning equipment will be moved from Wandsworth to Bedford, enabling all beers in the Wells & Young's portfolio to be bottle-conditioned.

Nigel McNally, brewing and brands director at Charles Wells and MD of the new joint venture, said licensees would now have easy access to "a complete range of beers".

"Young's bitter is the fastest-growing standard bitter, while Bombardier is the fastest-growing premium ale," said Mr McNally. "Charles Wells licensees will be able to stock Young's Special, which is great as we previously were unable to offer a high gravity beer to our licensees. No other brewer can offer the complete range of products we can."

However, the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) sounded a note of caution about the deal.

CAMRA chief executive Mike Benner said: "We have known for some time now that Young's could not continue at its present site, but we held out hope that efforts to find a suitable local alternative would bear fruit.

"We would urge Young's to be upfront about where its beers are brewed and not try to pass itself off as a London brewery."