Charles Wells commercial director, Peter Wells, has told MCA that the group’s new £13m brewery will allow it to tap into emerging beer trends.
The group, which sold its brewery business to Marston’s for £55m last May, today submitted a planning application for a new 30,000 hectolitre brewery to be built at Fairhill, off the A6 in Bedford. The facility, which will also feature visitor centre, pub and events space, is due to open in the summer of 2019.
Wells conformed that the new facility will not carry the Charles Wells names, as per the agreement with Marston’s.
Wells told MCA that data from the group’s 24-month Wandering Brewer project, which sees it partner with a different brewery each month to produce a one-off beer for its pubs would inform what new product development.
He also spoke about plans for the pub estate, where the group aims to open five new Pizza, Pots & Pints site each year. He confirmed that that the group is currently in negotiations on two sites in Oxford, which are both due to open in the summer. It follows the decision to double up in Cambridge.
On the decision to reinvest in brewing, he said: “We felt that as a brewing family since 1876 it was at the heart of what we do and a key part of our business. We have an emotional attachment to brewing.
“We have an opportunity to create a brewery that is fit for the modern industry and allows to brew the different styles that are popular at the moment. We think that’s where we need to be with the evolving trends in the market.
“Wandering Brewer has given us the chance to get out and try a whole variety of different beers. The feedback we are getting will give us a strong database about what pub consumers are looking for.
“We want to make it interactive. I have a dream that stag and hen parties will come and brew a beer which can then be drunk at the wedding.”
On the pubs side, Wells said the group would continue to focus on four keys areas. In France, it has just opened 14th pub – the Queen Victoria with the next planned for La Rochelle next month. He said the group would continue to target university towns across the country.
He said there were likely to be five new Pizza, Pots & Pints this year with that as a rolling target going forward. However, he said: “We are looking for as many of these sites as we can. We’re not constrained to five a year. If we found 10 we would do them.”
He said he expected the Apostrophe managed estate to grow to 10 over the next few years.
