Jonathan Adnams, chairman of the Suffolk-based family brewer and pub operator, has told M&C its’s £7m brewery expansion will be complete by spring 2017 and said the company’s tenanted estate has stabilised after a series of disposals.
Adnams said the company, which has sold five pubs this financial year and expects to dispose of another imminently, was close to the end of the churn.
He said: “In the first half of this year our tenanted pubs were up slightly up on a like-for-like basis. We seem to have stabilised. It’s a case of having got rid of some of the bottom end and we’re not firefighting anymore.
“I think we are getting to the end of the churn. There will still be a few more but we are through the ones we wanted to get rid of quickly. We can now be more considered about the next tranche.”
Adnams said going forward the company’s managed and tenanted arms would come under the same management.
He said: “In the past our managed hotels had operated independently from the tenanted bsiness. We are now looking at managed and tenanted as one part of the same whole. With time we will move some of the bigger tenancies over to managed and with the same team overseeing it, that will make transition easier.”
He said the company had funds to acquire new sites but said the focus was on the investment into production.
This will see £500,000 spent on more than doubling capacity in its distillery by the start of next year.
The brewery project, which will include new automated kegging lines, a refrigeration and 16 new tanks, should be complete by June 2017, Adnams said.
He said: “We are keeping up with the changes in the market. Drinkers are more discerning now in both beer and spirits. Adnams Bitter is still our biggest brand so let’s not get it out of perspective and there are still a lot of people who want to drink classic beers. But, particularly with the younger consumers, the hoppier beers and at the moment those with a citrus note, are really flying. These are what we call flavours of the moment, that could be to do with food matching or trends in the market.
“We are innovating, and bringing out new beers because we recognise markets change. I’m in my 40th year at Adnams and when I started Adnams Dark Mild and Nut Brown Ale were the top sellers. We don’t do either of those anymore so things have always changed. They are just changing a bit more rapidly now.
