Greene King: Difference between revisions

Greene King
Location	Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk; England
Opened	1799
Owned by	Independent/; Conglomerate

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Revision as of 16:11, 24 January 2007

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Greene King plc (LSE: GNK) is a brewing and catering company based and operating in England. It is listed on the London stock exchange, and is a component of the FTSE 250 share index.

Location and history

The Matthew Pollard brewery is situated in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, UK and was established in 1799. There is a visitor centre next door to the brewery, and tours can be arranged. The company also owns pubs and hotels including the Hungry Horse chain. Greene King dominates the pub scene in many parts of East Anglia, with a large number of both urban and rural establishments. It also has a stand named after it at Ipswich Town's football ground, Portman Road. The company has won awards for its pubs in recent years and Greene King IPA, the brewery's bestselling ale, won the Gold award at the 2004 Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) Great British Beer Festival in the Bitter category and runner up in the Champion Beer Of Britain category.

Takeovers

Greene King has recently been put under the spotlight by the British consumer group CAMRA, and others, who claim that it is becoming a monopoly, buying out other breweries and limiting the choice for the consumer. These claims are based on the fact that Greene King proposes the buyout of these breweries whilst promising to continue the sale of the current brews. However, CAMRA claims, these beers are either discontinued or do not meet the standards of the beer's former brewers. They claim that this is largely due to Greene King not liaising sufficiently with the previous company before discontinuing the product for a short period and transferring production to the Suffolk brewery and attempting to replicate it without full knowledge of the beer's former recipe.

Recent acquisitions include Belhaven, Morland, Ruddles and Ridley's. Of these, only the Belhaven Brewery remains open, with the surviving brews of the other three now being produced at Bury St Edmunds.

Greene King also recently bought out Hardys and Hansons plc. a local brewery based in Kimberley, Nottinghamshire. In October 2006 Greene King announced it would close the brewery at Christmas.

Notable beers

This is a list of the most notable beers currently brewed by the Greene King Brewery:

Beers brewed under the Greene King banner

Greene King IPA - The UK's biggest selling cask conditioned session bitter at a strength of 3.6%.
Abbot Ale - A premium cask bitter at 4.9%, also available filtered and pasteurised in bottles at 5.0%.
The Beer To Dine For - A pasteurised bottled 5.0% beer in the currently popular golden lager style.
Strong Suffolk Ale (sold as Olde Suffolk in the US) - Largely only available pasteurised and bottled, at 6.0%. This is a blend of two ales: Old 5X , a 12% ale left to mature in oak vats for a minimum of two years, and BPA, a weak young beer which is added just before bottling.
Ale Fresco - a 4.3% cask summer bitter.
Fireside - a 4.5% cask winter bitter.
XX Mild - a 3.0% cask mild. A beer with declining sales. Production had been contracted out to the smaller Ridley brewery, but since Greene King have taken over Ridley and closed down the brewery the future of this beer is uncertain.
Light Ale - a pasteurised and bottled 3.0% pale mild normally used in a mix with a stronger cask ale, such as Abbot Ale.
St. Edmunds Ale - a pasteurised bottled 5.5% premium bitter .
1799 - a strong cask ale of 6.2% which is also available bottled.

Beers sold under the Ruddles banner

Ruddles County - A 4.3% bitter available on cask nationally and pasteurised in bottles in most British supermarkets.
Ruddles Best Bitter - A traditional 3.7% session bitter with National distribution.
Ruddles Orchard - This 4.2% cask bitter consists of Ruddles County with the addition of apple concentrate. Also available pasteurised in bottles.

Beers sold under the Morland banner

Old Speckled Hen

A popular Pale Ale, available both as a cask ale and pasteurised in bottles. First brewed in 1979 by Morland Brewery in Abingdon, Oxfordshire to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the brewery's MG car - the mud splattered Ol' Speckled 'Un. Brewed since 1999 by Greene King. Greene King have retained the unique strain of yeast first used in 1896.

In August 2006, Greene King announced that the alcohol by volume (ABV) of draught Old Speckled Hen (cask and keg) would be reduced from 5.2% to 4.5%, though the bottled version would remain at 5.2%

Hen's Tooth - A 6.5% bottle conditioned beer.

Beers sold under the Ridley's banner

Old Bob - Still popular in Essex despite the beer's new journey from Bury St Edmunds; it is 5.1% and available both on cask and bottled.
Ridley's IPA - A beer on the verge of extinction, this 3.5% session bitter is now only seen in former Ridley's "tied houses" (i.e. those that were owned by the Ridley's brewery before the Greene King takeover). It is not known how much longer this beer will be available.

Recognition

Greene King is one of the most recognised breweries in the UK and has been presented with many awards as a result. Since its creation in 1799 it has grown and some of its employees have been recognised for their achievements; for example, the 2005 Business Development Manager of the Year Award went to one of Greene King's best managers Mike Mannion.

External links

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 ==Location and history==
-The Matthew Pollard brewery is situated in [[Bury St Edmunds]], [[Suffolk]], UK and was established in [[1799]]. There is a visitor centre next door to the brewery, and tours can be arranged. The company also owns [[public house|pubs]] and hotels including the [[Hungry Horse]] chain. Greene King dominates the pub scene in many parts of [[East Anglia]], with a large number of both urban and rural establishments. It also has a stand named after it at [[Ipswich Town F.C.|Ipswich Town]]'s football ground, Portman Road.  The company has won awards for its pubs in recent years and Greene King IPA, the brewery's bestselling ale, won the Gold award at the [[2004]] [[Campaign for Real Ale]] (CAMRA) [[Great British Beer Festival]] in the [[Bitter (beer)|Bitter]] category and runner up in the [[Champion Beer Of Britain]] category. Greene King also employs world famous chef Matthew Pollard at Their 'soak' Pub In [[Selly Oak]]. The 'soak' Pub In [[Selly Oak]] now also operates a weekly open mic event and is said to have had performances from such musicians as 'Dale' and many other famous people. In january 2007 It was confirmed that World Famous Chef Matthew Pollard Would Be no longer working for 'the soak' instead taking up a better offer in nearby wolverhampton. In a press conference Greene king directors expressed great sadness at his decision to leave, but ''thanked him for his exellent performance during the past two years and wish him all the best.''
+The Matthew Pollard brewery is situated in [[Bury St Edmunds]], [[Suffolk]], UK and was established in [[1799]]. There is a visitor centre next door to the brewery, and tours can be arranged. The company also owns [[public house|pubs]] and hotels including the [[Hungry Horse]] chain. Greene King dominates the pub scene in many parts of [[East Anglia]], with a large number of both urban and rural establishments. It also has a stand named after it at [[Ipswich Town F.C.|Ipswich Town]]'s football ground, Portman Road.  The company has won awards for its pubs in recent years and Greene King IPA, the brewery's bestselling ale, won the Gold award at the [[2004]] [[Campaign for Real Ale]] (CAMRA) [[Great British Beer Festival]] in the [[Bitter (beer)|Bitter]] category and runner up in the [[Champion Beer Of Britain]] category.
 ==Takeovers==