Everards plans buy-to-lease pub estate
Leicester family brewer Everards is looking to break out of its East Midlands heartland by buying pubs and leasing them to local microbrewers.
The first deal has been signed in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, where Everards has bought and refurbished the Greyhound and leased it to the local Titanic Brewery. In a departure from policy Everards is allowing Titanic to sell its own beers.
The pub, which was closed and boarded before Everards bought it, has been packed since it started trading a few weeks ago, said Titanic.
And now Everards has bought a second Potteries pub, the Kingsway in Stoke-on-Trent - also currently closed and boarded - which it plans to lease to Titanic with an opening date of spring 2008.
Under the deal, Everards is supplying wines, spirits, and keg products to the two pubs. But apart from Tiger Best Bitter, the handpumps are all Titanic's.
Titanic boss Keith Bott said: "This is a win-win situation.
"Everards benefits from the local knowledge and brand loyalty we have built up in our trading area, while we get access to outlets the pub companies wouldn't sell to us even though they were closed and boarded."
Everards managing director Stephen Gould said: "It's all about owning super pubs and having them run by the best possible operators."
He revealed the two Titanic deals were just the start.
"We are currently talking with a number of local brewers who want to develop their brands and understand what running a good pub is all about," he said.
"They get all the benefits of vertical integration and the support and services we can offer, and for us it's a way of continuing to develop an estate of quality pubs. It also means that we can expand literally anywhere."
scots brewer wins siba award
A Scottish brewery established just two years ago has won the overall championship in the Society of Independent Brewers (Siba) 2007 Local Brewing Business Awards, for which the MA is media partner.
Traditional Scottish Ales (TSA), based in Stirling, earned the award for its support for the restoration of the Lade Inn - for which it also scooped the On Trade support award.
TSA assisted with cellar installations, staff training and in developing a range of beers exclusive to the pub. Judges, including MA editor Andrew Pring, were impressed by its support for the establishment of Scotland's only real-ale shop at the Lade Inn.
The runner-up in the overall awards was Nottingham's Castle Rock Brewery, which won the category for best public relations initiative for its support of the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust.
