Welsh brewing dynasty back in business after dispute

A proud Welsh brewing dynasty is back in business with the launch of Evan-Evans, the latest pub and brewing venture from Simon Buckley.

He revealed plans to take the new business to around 30 pubs in the next year or so after the High Court in Cardiff drew a line under his involvement with Tomos Watkin, the business he founded in the mid-1990s.

A claim for breach of contract and constructive dismissal has been upheld against the now-defunct business, with Mr Buckley being awarded £55,426 in damages.

The business went under in 2002, and most of its pubs were sold to Celtic Inns, run by former Tomos Watkin director Duncan Murray. The beer brands were sold separately.

Mr Buckley said the judgment "proves I wasn't the bad guy" in the acrimonious dispute which surrounded the demise of Tomos Watkin, which Mr Buckley set up after the 200-year-old Crown Buckley business was sold to rival family brewer SA Brain.

"I am glad I have been vindicated and that at last this matter is at an end," he said. "The sum of the judgment is almost un-important." He added that he plans to pursue claims against the former directors of Tomos Watkin.

The Evan-Evans brewery is to start production soon on a two-acre site at Llandeilo. It will specialise in cask ales, with a potential capacity of around 10,000 barrels a year.

The brewery is named after Mr Buckley's grandmother's great-grandfather, whose flagship Evan-Evans' brew was marketed as the "famously good stout".

The brewery will also feature an eight-bedroom inn. Evan-Evans also owns a pub in Cardiff which is about to reopen after a refurbishment. Negotiations are under way for a small package of tenanted pubs, aiming to grow to five or six managed outlets and up to 25 tenancies in around a year.

Mr Buckley described the initial growth targets as a "manageable ambition, which will be funded from our own resources".

He added: "There has never been a better time to be a brewer in Wales."