Brakspear's bizarre inability to prove it was the owner of part of its Henley on Thames brewery site was one of the factors that led the company to announce it was pulling out of brewing.
When Brakspear went to its local council for planning permission to develop half the site as offices in a £2.5m scheme, it could not prove title to the entire area, which fatally delayed the development.
Brakspear's chief executive, Jim Burrows, accused South Oxfordshire District Council of "dragging its feet". However, Robin Peirce, South Oxfordshire District Council's cabinet member for planning, said: "That is quite unfounded. Brakspears had to prove title, and they couldn't. They couldn't prove they owned the whole site. One part of the jigsaw was missing."
Burrows, who said that Brakspear lost 9% gross last year on every pint of beer it produced, said: "If we'd got our plans through, we'd have sold half our site for offices and it might have staved things off for a bit longer. But when you're using such a valuable asset as this site to produce beer, it would always have been very difficult to get a proper market return on the brewing."
The company, which dates its foundation to 1779, the year that Robert Brakspear joined a small brewing operation in Henley, has now with drawn its planning application and will sell the whole site to a developer "and let them sort it out," Burrows said. The brewery site is believe to have a price tag of £10m.
Burrows revealed he made the approach to Refresh UK about taking over the brewing of Brakspear's highly regarded cask ales. He said: "It's all about focus these days, and pubs are generating a better return." Although the company's brewing turnover was around £6m last year, it made a £500,000 loss on brewing operations.
Refresh is now looking to build another brewery as near Henley as possible to reproduce Brakspear's beers, though it estimates it will not be brewing on any new site until May next year at the earliest.
The company is offering free beer for a year to anyone who can help it find a site for the new brewery. Refresh's chief executive, Rupert Thompson, said: "We are looking to create a small specialist brewery, ideally with a visitor centre, bar and taste training rooms so that visitors can understand what a wonderful, natural and refreshing drink beer is." The ideal site will be three quarters of an acre, out of town, on a main road, in South Oxfordshire and as near to Henley on Thames as possible
While Brakspear itself was too large to take advantage of the 14p-a-pint tax allowance given to small brewers in this year's Budget, observers believe Refresh will try to run the new brewery as a separate business to its Wychwood operation and try to keep output at any new site below the magic figure of 18,000 barrels a year to qualify for tax relief.
Brakspear is said to want to close its brewery by October if possible, and the beginning of December at the latest. Brewing of its beers will be transferred to the Thomas Hardy brewery in Dorchester, which already makes several beers for Refresh under licence, until the new brewery opens.
When Brakspear went to its local council for planning permission to develop half the site as offices in a £2.5m scheme, it could not prove title to the entire area, which fatally delayed the development.
Brakspear's chief executive, Jim Burrows, accused South Oxfordshire District Council of "dragging its feet". However, Robin Peirce, South Oxfordshire District Council's cabinet member for planning, said: "That is quite unfounded. Brakspears had to prove title, and they couldn't. They couldn't prove they owned the whole site. One part of the jigsaw was missing."
Burrows, who said that Brakspear lost 9% gross last year on every pint of beer it produced, said: "If we'd got our plans through, we'd have sold half our site for offices and it might have staved things off for a bit longer. But when you're using such a valuable asset as this site to produce beer, it would always have been very difficult to get a proper market return on the brewing."
The company, which dates its foundation to 1779, the year that Robert Brakspear joined a small brewing operation in Henley, has now with drawn its planning application and will sell the whole site to a developer "and let them sort it out," Burrows said. The brewery site is believe to have a price tag of £10m.
Burrows revealed he made the approach to Refresh UK about taking over the brewing of Brakspear's highly regarded cask ales. He said: "It's all about focus these days, and pubs are generating a better return." Although the company's brewing turnover was around £6m last year, it made a £500,000 loss on brewing operations.
Refresh is now looking to build another brewery as near Henley as possible to reproduce Brakspear's beers, though it estimates it will not be brewing on any new site until May next year at the earliest.
The company is offering free beer for a year to anyone who can help it find a site for the new brewery. Refresh's chief executive, Rupert Thompson, said: "We are looking to create a small specialist brewery, ideally with a visitor centre, bar and taste training rooms so that visitors can understand what a wonderful, natural and refreshing drink beer is." The ideal site will be three quarters of an acre, out of town, on a main road, in South Oxfordshire and as near to Henley on Thames as possible
While Brakspear itself was too large to take advantage of the 14p-a-pint tax allowance given to small brewers in this year's Budget, observers believe Refresh will try to run the new brewery as a separate business to its Wychwood operation and try to keep output at any new site below the magic figure of 18,000 barrels a year to qualify for tax relief.
Brakspear is said to want to close its brewery by October if possible, and the beginning of December at the latest. Brewing of its beers will be transferred to the Thomas Hardy brewery in Dorchester, which already makes several beers for Refresh under licence, until the new brewery opens.
