Pub People Co in branded beers deal with Nottingham Brewery

24-Apr-2012 - Last updated on 12-Mar-2017 at 04:13 GMT

Sir Blondeville: First beer to launched into Pub People Company sites

Pub People Company, the Midlands-based multiple pub operator, has signed a deal with a local brewer to produce bespoke beers that will be available exclusively in its outlets.

The novel deal with Nottingham Brewery will see beers branded with the Pub People Company name introduced to its free-of-tie sites. Operations director Andy Crawford said that the company had looked at buying a microbrewery but concluded “that’s not our expertise”.

“We hope [the Nottingham Brewery deal] will encourage customers to come to the pubs for our beer, without investing in a brewery,” said Crawford. “We’ve got a long-standing relationship with Nottingham Brewery. It has got the capacity to produce what we need, which is not a huge amount.

“It’s a logical step for us and gives us the opportunity to attract new cask-ale customers for beers that can be purchased only in our pubs."

The first beer, a 4% ABV pale ale call Sir Blondeville 1194, is to be introduced to 15 Pub People Company sites initially, supported by marketing and point-of-sale material, which Crawford said can be lacking from some microbrewers. The move follows trials of three bespoke beers from Nottingham Brewery last year.

“All three of them went extremely well,” said Crawford. “We put a lot of effort in with the marketing side. We are going to use the knowledge that we have gained with the test beers to have a family of brands.”

Pub People Company, which is backed by Downing Corporate Finance, currently operates 47 sites. Crawford said: “I would hope we can get to 50 pubs this year. We have churned out some of the weaker pubs.”