Greene King

'Grasshopper' engine displayed in the Brewery museum in Bury St Edmunds

of Westgate Brewery, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

Greene King is a British brewery established in 1799 in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. It has grown to become the largest British owned brewery in the UK by a series of takeovers.

1799 Benjamin Greene established the Brewery in Bury St Edmunds

1831 The business was producing over 5,000 barrels of beer.

1836 Edward Greene, Benjamin's son, became sole owner of the brewery.

1869 Edward's nephew Edward Lake joined the company and became a partner 1876

1870s The brewery was producing 40,000 barrels of beer.

1887 Edward Greene merged with Fred King and the company became Greene King. The new merged brewery was based at the Greene site where brewing had been going on since 1806.

1891 Debenture Holders. 'Greene, King, and Sons Limited...a Meeting of the holders of Debenture Stock of the above named Company, constituted and secured by an indenture, the said Company of the one part, and Reginald Gurney, Algernon Beckford Bevand, and Rowland Holt Wilson of the other part, will, pursuant to the provisions of the said indenture, be held at the Westgate Brewery, Bury St. Edmunds...'

Greene King has grown organically and more recently by merger and acquisition:

• 1999 Morland including Ruddles
• 2002 Morrells
• 2005 Ridleys and Belhaven
• 2006 Hardys and Hansons

Of these, only the Belhaven Brewery remains open, with the surviving brews of the other three now being produced at Bury St Edmunds.

August 2007 Greene King announced it had acquired the 35-strong Loch Fyne fish-restaurant chain.

2008 The Westgate Street brewery is still in operation and its total annual turnover now stands at over £700 million.

See Also

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Sources of Information

• [1] Wikipedia
• [2] Greene King Plc
• Trademarked. A History of Well-Known Brands - from Aertex to Wright's Coal Tar by David Newton. Pub: Sutton Publishing 2008 ISBN 978-0-7509-4590-5