De Vere Group

De Vere Group

Type	Private
Industry	Hotels
Founded	1762
Headquarters	London, UK
Key people	Andrew Coppel (Group CEO)
Website	www.devere.co.uk

De Vere Group is a hotels and leisure business which until the late 1990s was a brewing company known as Greenall's. It used to be listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

History

Greenall's Brewery was founded by Thomas Greenall in 1762. Initially based in St Helens, the Company relocated to Warrington in 1787.^[1]

It bought the Groves & Whitnall Brewery in Salford in 1961,^[2] Shipstone's Brewery in Nottingham in 1978^[3] and Davenport's Brewery in Birmingham in 1986.^[4] For much of the 20th century, the Company traded as Greenall Whitley & Co Limited.^[4] The St Helens brewery was demolished in the 1970s to make way for a new shopping centre. The Warrington brewery on the edge of Stockton Heath was bought by Bruntwood, renamed Wilderspool Business Park and is now let to office occupiers.^[5]

It ceased brewing in 1991 to concentrate on running pubs and hotels.^[6]

In 1999, the tenanted wing of the Greenall's operation was sold to the Japanese bank, Nomura, for £370 million^[7] and the main Greenall's operation, involving 770 pubs and 69 budget lodges, was sold to Scottish and Newcastle for £1.1billion.^[8]

In 2005, The Belfry was sold by Greenalls to The Quinn Group for £186 million.^[9]

The Greenall family connection remained as Lord Daresbury, the descendant of the original founder, remained the non-executive chairman. This tie was eventually severed in 2006 when Daresbury stepped down from the post and much of the family's interest was sold.^[10]

In September 2006, De Vere Group was acquired by The Alternative Hotels Group plc, a joint venture between HBOS and eight investors led by Richard Balfour-Lynn,^[11] for £745.5 million.^[12] The Alternative Hotels Group plc renamed itself De Vere Group again in December 2010.^[13]

De Vere Group sold Greenall's London Dry Gin for £7 million in a private equity-backed management buyout in August 2011.^[14] Balfour-Lynn stood down as chief executive in September 2011.^[15]

Operations

The Company is now focused on its hotel business, De Vere and Village Leisure.

Greenall's ales are distributed by Carlsberg and brewed for them by Molson Coors in Burtonwood, near Warrington.^[16] Greenall's ales can still be bought in some pubs in the North West of England, although they are gradually disappearing. Often, only the "Greenall's Mild" brand can be found. Greenall's Bitter is 3.6% ABV.^[17] Greenall's Mild is 3.1%.^[17] Greenall's beer is most often found in the St. Helens and Warrington areas, particularly in former Greenall's Houses.

Sponsorship

Greenall's sponsored Newcastle United and Huddersfield Town football clubs during the late 1980s. Greenall's was also involved with the Warrington Wolves Rugby League Club for some 115 years. The sponsorship ended in 1998 when Greenall's operations were sold to Scottish and Newcastle.

References