Charles Wells picks up top business award
Charles Wells has been named private company of the year in the 2007 Business Weekly Awards for East Anglia.
In the last year, the parent company of brewers Wells and Young's Brewing Company and Charles Wells Pub Company, has broken he £200million turnover barrier, up nearly 30 per cent on the previous year, and remains the largest private employer in Bedfordshire.
Stewart Wingate, managing director of BAA Stansted, and a member of the Business Weekly judging panel said: "This Award is for the private business which, in the judges' opinion, has made most commercial progress over the past 12 months. As you would expect in this category the competition was extremely tough. "Charles Wells has successfully combined 130 years of brewing in Bedford and pub retailing across the UK and internationally with a genuine spirit of innovation and enterprise. It has evolved to become one of the market leaders in both areas and has grown headcount and turnover through both organic expansion and shrewd acquisition. It now exports to over 40 countries."
"This is fantastic news," says Paul Wells, chief executive of Charles Wells. "We have expanded rapidly in a short space of time and we are absolutely committed to brewing the best possible beer, and operating the best pubs. We give vast amounts of support to all our licensees and this award is proof to all our pubs, customers and beer drinkers that we continue to strive to be the best."
In the last year, both divisions of the Charles Wells have continued their upward trend. Charles Wells Pub Company has acquired 11 pubs and increased the income per pub by 10%. The brewing and brands division, Wells and Young's, has seen a growth of 40% in all sales channels for its own brewed beers, in spite of a 5% decline in the overall beer market. In the year to September 2007, the Bedford brewery sold 818,000 own-brand barrels and is now the UK¹s largest privately owned brewery.
