Origins
The business was formed in 1742 when Samuel Whitbread formed a partnership with Godfrey and Thomas Shewell. They acquired a small brewery at the junction of Old Street and Upper Whitecross Street, along with a brewery in Brick Lane, Spitalfields, which was used for brewing pale and amber beers.[7] Godfrey Shewell withdrew from the partnership as Thomas Shewell and Samuel Whitbread bought the large site of the derelict King's Head brewery in Chiswell Street in 1750.[7][8] The new brewery was for the specific production of porter, and was renamed the Hind Brewery after the Whitbread family coat of arms.[7][9]
While not the first to brew porter, Whitbread was the first to exploit it commercially on a large scale.[9] This coincided with an increase in beer consumption in the UK, following regulations to limit the sale of gin owing to the excesses of the Gin Craze.[9] By 1758 production at Chiswell street was 65,000 barrels and the firm had become the largest firm of porter brewers in the UK.[9] From the outset, Whitbread was the leading financial partner, and solely responsible for management, and in 1761, Whitbread acquired Shewell's share of the business for £30,000.[7]
By the 1780s Whitbread had become the largest brewery in the world.[10][11] In 1796 the company produced 202,000 barrels of porter.[7] The firm struggled after the death of Samuel Whitbread Sr, and saw ownership transfer to his son, also called Samuel Whitbread.[10] The company adopted the name Whitbread & Co. Ltd in 1799.[12]
Expansion and social welfare
By the 1810s, Samuel Whitbread Jnr (1764–1815) had brought in several new investment partners including his cousin Jacob Whitbread and the Master Brewer John Martineau I (1758-1834).[13][14] Four generations of Martineau's descendants, father-to-son, would later sit on the board of Whitbread, including John Martineau I's great great grandson, John Edmund Martineau.[14] In 1812, the company merged with the Martineau Brewery holdings and by 1816, leadership was shared between William Henry Whitbread, Joseph Martineau and his father John Martineau I, who died in an industrial accident in a yeast vat in the brewery in 1834. Joseph Martineau became a partner in the business at the time of the merger – the same time as his father John. Three years later, in 1815, annual production reached 161,672 barrels, which at 36 gallons each, equated to over forty-six and a half million pints. Another of John's sons, Richard Martineau, later also became a partner. The business was known as Whitbread, Martineau & Co. until the mid-1840s. By 1860, William Henry Whitbread - nephew of Prime Minister Earl Grey, shared partnership of the firm with John Martineau II (1834-1910) - grandson of John Martineau I and grandson-in-law of Lord Stanley of Alderley.[15]
Guinness Brewery
From 1904, Whitbread was bottling Guinness stout.[23] This cooperation, and rivalry, between the two breweries continued into the 20th century with both firms boasting a Master of the Worshipful Company of Brewers; John Edmund Martineau, the great great grandson of John Martineau in 1955 and Cecil Edward Guinness, the great great great great nephew of Arthur Guinness in 1977.[24][25] In the 1920s Whitbread introduced the Double Brown which was designed to rival Guinness and was almost a recreation of Whitbread's original porter.[26]
In 2000, The Guardian reported that Whitbread was the country's third largest brewer and that Guinness was the largest.[27]
20th century
By 1905, the Chiswell Street brewery reached its largest extent and annual production throughout the company breweries had reached nearly 700,000 barrels.[28] Production decreased during the First World War with Whitbread brewing over 575,000 barrels in 1917.[29]
In the 1920s and 1930s, the company bought out several other brewers, including the Forest Hill Brewery and its pubs, and later the Kent Brewery Frederick Leney & Sons, with 130 of its pubs.[28] The company was also reorganised under the leadership of Sir Sydney Neville and introduced new ales, including Double Brown ale.[30] Whitbread ended regular production of porter in 1940 due to its declining popularity and a need to rationalise its product range following Second World War damage to its brewery sites.[31] 565 Whitbread pubs were also extensively damaged in the war, primarily during the Blitz.[32]
21st century
In 2001, Whitbread decided to sell all its breweries and brewing interests (Whitbread Beer Company) to Interbrew, now known as InBev.[12] Whitbread-branded alcoholic beverages are still available in the UK, such as canned Whitbread bitter, but these are not produced by InBev, but rather under licence by other producers. InBev controls the use of the Whitbread brand and the hind's head logo for use on beverages. In 2002 Whitbread sold its pub estate, known as the Laurel Pub Company, to Enterprise Inns,[47] and sold its Pelican and BrightReasons restaurant groups for £25m to Tragus Holdings[48] (later renamed Casual Dining Group). The Whitbread & Co brewery building at 52 Chiswell Street in London still survives, although beer ceased to be brewed there in 1976[10] and it is now a conference and events venue. Still named "The Brewery", it was part of the Earls Court and Olympia Group from 2005 to 2012, when it was subsequently sold to a private investor.[49]
