Who owns shepherd neame

Another change was the end of horse-drawn ale carts. Jasper and Laurie Neame had become joint managing directors in September When Jasper died in , his brother retained his post and Kenneth Johnston succeeded him as chairman.

The firm's real estate continued to appreciate as well. Laurie Neame died in December and Kenneth Johnston retired as chairman in the spring of Shepherd Neame was becoming a modern brewery, both in terms of production and marketing. It had installed a laboratory and begun advertising on television.

The company replaced its wooden, copper-lined fermenters with new stainless steel ones, and particular attention was given to streamlining the production process, which shrank the workforce to about The British government, wanting to break up an oligarchy, ordered Whitbreads to sell off pub houses in Shepherd Neame bought 32 of them, a major expansion.

The purchases produced decidedly good results. The company bought another 33 houses in the next eight years. It also invested in upgrading existing ones. Shepherd Neame bought 46 pubs in the s. Perceiving a need for moderately priced hotels in the Southeast, the company acquired three Invicta Inns. It installed new fermenters to accommodate increased demand for lager. Once a rarity in Britain, by this time it accounted for 40 percent of pub sales.

More new fermenters were installed in Shepherd Neame began bottling wine from vineyards at its farm, the first English brewer to do so. However, the company sold much of this land in when hop production failed due to falling prices and disease. By the mids, Shepherd Neame had withdrawn from all its farm-related enterprises such as using spent grain and yeast as livestock feed. The mad cow disease crisis helped bring this to an end.

The vineyard was also shut down, and the land leased out. In Shepherd Neame bought Grants, founded in Dover in The brandy was a favorite of Queen Victoria's and had been marketed under the priceless slogan "Keep it near, keep it handy.

It developed its own Sun Lik beer for Chinese restaurants. As the brewing industry in Britain consolidated, Shepherd Neame launched a new massive round of acquisition. It bought 33 houses from Allied in , 22 from Bass and Courage in , and followed this by another 60 leased and later bought from Whitbread.

Colin Neame stepped down as vice-chairman in The loss of him and other experienced managers prompted the company to create a technical board of outside professional talent.

The company was restructured in July , and Johnathan Neame, a qualified barrister, became managing director. As its bottle washing equipment reached obsolescence, Shepherd Neame stopped reusing returnable bottles. Its new disposable packaging gave longer range exports new viability without the problem of returning the empties.

A new long-necked half liter bottle was introduced to compete against nitrogenated cans. The success of these bottling innovations kept plants busy around the clock, as Shepherd Neame shipped to 12 countries. Its Bishops Finger brand became the bestselling British import in Sweden.

Shepherd Neame began selling Bishops Finger in Calais to compete with the cheap beers British vacationers took back home with them. When it proved wildly successful there, the company began expanding its domestic distribution. The problem of cheap imports from France, where duties were a fraction of those in the United Kingdom, was a recalcitrant one for Shepherd Neame.

One of every three pints of beer consumed in Kent was estimated to have been bought across the Channel. Shepherd Neame fought against increasing taxation with high profile advocate Cherie Booth, wife of prime minister Tony Blair. The monarch was confined at the brewery. In Marsh bought the brewery from the executors of Thomas Hilton, thereby signalling the official start of the brewery's history.

He died in and the brewery passed to his second son, also called Richard, who died only a year later. His widow, Mary, married a Mr Hilles Hobday, who died in The latter is still part of the brewery's pub estate.

Samuel Shepherd married Mary in and promptly took over the running of the brewery, introducing an era of growth. Shepherd led an important development for the brewery which was the acquisition of 21 pubs, five of which remain with Shepherd Neame. In Samuel retired to his Great Mongeham farm, near Deal, leaving the business in the hands of his sons, John and Julius. In John withdrew from the business leaving Julius as the sole owner. He in turn took two of his sons, Samuel and Henry, into the partnership.

Julius was succeeded by his son Henry in After 25 years with one man at the helm the brewery came under new leadership when Henry retired. In October Percy Beale Neame, a year-old hop farmer and brother-in-law of John Mares, joined the firm as a partner, only two months before Mares' death. In an important phase of development got under way with the building of a new brewhouse and stores and 10 years later the pubs estate had grown to nearly Henry Jr died in , leaving Percy Neame the sole proprietor.

He was joined by his sons, Harry, Arthur and Alick about 20 years later. Tragedy struck the family when, in , Arthur died of pneumonia in March of that year, to be followed by Alick only three months later. Harry became the sole managing director. The Second World War saw the brewery depleted of staff due to military service. Seventy-five were away by , though production continued as beer was not rationed and indeed, was regarded as a morale-boosting essential.

These pubs are a mixture of tenanted, 54 managed operations, and seven free of tie pubs. It also owns various unlicensed properties and small landholdings.

The London Stock Exchange does not disclose whether a trade is a buy or a sell so this data is estimated based on the trade price received and the LSE-quoted mid-price at the point the trade is placed.

It should only be considered an indication and not a recommendation. You are here:. Sell: Prices delayed by at least 15 minutes Switch to live prices. Buy: Change: No change.