Marriage of convenience

Its brewing tie-up with London-based Young & Co is working well for Charles Wells of Bedford

Charles Wells began life as a brewer in 1876, but only a couple of years ago it struck a deal that could yet be the most significant in its 130-year history.

In October 2006, it agreed to merge its brewing arm with London-based Young's to form a new business, Wells & Young's Brewing Company. In addition to flagship brands Bombardier and Eagle IPA, the portfolio now includes the Young's brands including Young's Special, Waggledance and Ram Rod.

Wells & Young's managing director Nigel McNally says the tie-up has really paid off. "It has provided a much better portfolio of cask ales - we are the only brewer that has a balanced portfolio of specialist ales and specialist lagers," he says. "It secured our ability to carry on brewing in Bedford." Wells & Young's exports to more than 40 countries and is the sole UK distributor of global beer brand Corona Extra. It also brews Jamaican beer Red Stripe and is one of only three breweries outside Japan to be licensed to brew the super-premium lager Kirin Ichiban.

The Charles Wells pub estate, meanwhile, has pub-retail developments throughout Europe. Over the years, the company has established the John Bull British Pub franchise in Russia, Poland and Hungary, and has traditional British pubs, such as the Bombardier in Paris, popular with both locals and ex-pats.

The brewer is proud of its track record of innovation and says it is committed to new product development. It has brought new products to the market, such as Wells Banana Bread Beer and real ale in a mini-cask for the off-trade.

McNally says the new company is performing well, despite industry pressures. He adds that the 8% decline in volumes experienced by the on-trade is "equivalent to three breweries the size of Wells & Young's closing each year", but concludes "we're doing a lot better than most".

He does not expect England's failure to qualify for Euro 2008 to dam-pen trade. "It might be good news for food-led pubs," says McNally.

Many of Charles Wells' pubs are food-led, though there are some that are wet-led. The company has a number of initiatives designed to help boost trade, such as the Courage national pub darts tournament and its recent support of St George's Day with Bombardier.

The company is also heavily involved in local communities. "We are involved with schools and teaching them about the science of making beer, and we have a programme of charitable activities throughout our pubs," McNally adds.

McNally is calling for more support for the pub trade from the Government and describes the additional 4p of duty on a pint as "unhelpful", but despite this, he says Wells & Young's, and Charles Wells itself, is "moving forward in a very proactive way — it's a good news story." And that's good news for the Midlands as well.

Romance led to a sea change

The history of the brewery has a romantic love story at its heart.

Charles Wells, born in Bedford in 1842, left school at 14 and boarded the Devonshire, a frigate bound for India.

However, he fell in love with Josephine Grimbley and proposed marriage. Josephine's father said that no daughter of his would marry a man who was away at sea for months at a time, so Charles left his seafaring career and in 1876 set up the brewery.

He decided beer would always be in demand, even in the hardest of times — something that still holds true today.

Charles bought a site on the banks of the river Ouse and set about turning it into a brewery. His hands-on approach even meant that he sank his own well into an underground reservoir of water, purified through layers of chalk and limestone.

All Charles Wells beer is still made with water drawn from that well today.