Activities

Marston's (known as Wolverhampton & Dudley for the first 116 years of its existence) has grown from a regional brewer and pub operator into a major national player. 

It operates three breweries - Park Brewery in Wolverhampton, Marston's Brewery at Burton on Trent and Jennings Brewery at Cockermouth in the Lake District.

The group is split into three divisions - Marston's Inns and Taverns (the managed pub division), Marston's Pub Company (the leased and tenanted pub division) and brewing arm Marston's Beer Company.

Key pub and bar brands include Pitcher and Piano, Bluu, Que Pasa, Marston's Tavern Table, Taverner’s Carvery, Two for One, Bostin' Locals, and Service That Suits.

The beers are brewed under the Marston's, Banks's, Mansfield and Jennings banners.

Timeline

• 1890: W&D is formed from the merger of three family brewers – the Banks family business and Fox Brewery in Wolverhampton and the Thompson family brewery in Dudley.
• 1964: The company floats on the London Stock Exchange. 
• 1992: The group buys Camerons Brewery in Hartlepool (which it sells in 2002) along with in excess of 150 pubs.
• 1999: W&D buys Marston, Thompson and Evershed in February in a rancorous takeover battle that attracts a counter bid. The acquisition includes a brewery in Burton and 918 pubs, mostly in the East Midlands, North West and North Wales. In December, W&D acquires the Mansfield Brewery Company in Nottinghamshire, which adds around 500 managed and tenanted pubs in the East Midlands and South Yorkshire
• 2000-2001: W&D, saddled with £550m of debt from the previous year’s takeovers, becomes a target itself. Pubmaster launches a hostile bid in June, followed by entrepreneur Robert Breare in August. This triggers one of the UK’s longest takeover battles to date, which drags on for 14 months. The two parties put in a joint bid in May 2001 and their final offer of £485m is rejected by shareholders in August 2001. The cost of the battle, plus the disposal of 110 non-core pubs, halves W&D’s profits for 2001.
• September 2001: W&D sells 50 pubs to the Barracuda Group for £37.25m. 
• March 2004:  W&D secures a new £420m five-year banking facility to pursue acquisitions.
• June 2004: The group buys Wizard Inns for £96.7m, acquiring 63 managed pubs located mostly in the south of England. 
• January 2005: W&D buys Cheshire-based brewer and pub operator Burtonwood for £167.8m, including £33.8m of net debt. Burtonwood, which dates back to 1867, has 460 pubs in the North West and West Wales, of which 420 are leased or tenanted.
• May 2005: W&D buys Jennings Brothers, the Lake District brewer and pub operator that dates back to 1828, after buying a 24.1% stake in the firm. W&D pays £72.9m for Jennings, including £24.4m of net debt. Jennings has 128 leased and tenanted pubs in the north of England, with nearly half in Cumbria where its Cockermouth Brewery produces its best-selling Cumberland Ale. 
• September 2005: The group buys English Country Inns for £13.4m. in a deal that adds 14 pubs to W&D's managed pub division. W&D also refinances its debt through a £805m securitisation.
• March 2006: W&D buys Celtic Inns for £43.6m. The group, which was set up in 2002, has 70 community pubs. Most are in South Wales, with 21 in the South of England. The estate comprises 63 tenanted properties and seven managed outlets.
• January 2007: Shareholders agree to change the company name to Marston's to reflect the growth of the Marston’s beer brand and the company’s expansion into a national player.
• January 2007: Marston’s buys Sovereign Inns, which owns 33 freehold pubs in the Midlands, for £19.6m. The pubs join Marston’s leased and tenanted division.
• January 2007: Marston’s completes the £155.1m acquisition of Dorset-based brewer and pub operator Eldridge Pope, which was founded in the 1870s when the Pope family set up the Dorchester Brewery. The acquisition nets 135 pubs (excluding 18 to be sold for £10m over the next 12 months) of which 95 are managed and 40 are tenanted. They include the Que Pasa high street chain and 26 Nostalgic Inns with letting bedrooms.
• May 2007: Marston’s sells 279 leased and tenanted pubs for £82.5m to Piccadilly Licensed Properties, which is owned by commercial property investment company Active Asset Investment Management (AAIM).
• July 2007: Marston’s buys southern buyer Ringwood for £19.2m. Founded in 1978, Ringwood supplies some 700 customers in southern England with beers such as Ringwood Best Bitter, Old Thumper and Fortyniner and has seven pubs.
• August 2007: The group buys four food-led pubs from the Rutland Pub Company for £5.5m, adding 340 covers and 29 bedrooms to its estate.

Financial snapshot

Full year:
Turnover:  £595.5m (2005: £556.1m)
Pre-tax profit: £101.5m (2005: £54.2m)

Half year
Turnover: £305.3m (2006: £281.4m)
Pre-tax profit: £38.4m (2006: £41m)

Financial year end: 1 October 2006
Half-year end: 31 March 2007

Operating data

Total number of pubs: 2,535

Number of employees: more than 11,000 (incuding 10,000 in Marston's Inns and Taverns)

MARSTON'S INNS & TAVERNS: managed pubs division

Number of managed pubs: 568 (2006: 543)
Food accounts for 33% of turnover from managed pubs and accommodation for 2% of sales.

• Annual results to 1 October 2006
  Turnover £330.7m (2006: £317.4m)
  Operating profit: £63.5m (2006: £63.3m)
  
• Interim results to 31 March 2007
  Turnover: £154.6m (2006: £153.1m)
  Underlying operating profit: £26.1m (2006: £25.9m)

MARSTON'S PUB COMPANY: leased and tenanted pubs division

Number of pubs: 1,967 (2006: 1,815)

• Annual results to 1 October 2007
  Turnover: £178.8m (2005: £153.3m)
  Operating profit: £80.3m (2005: £65.1mm)
  
• Interim results to 31 March 2007
  Turnover: £97.1m (2006: £86.4m)
  Operating profit: £43.3m (2006: £38m)

MARSTON'S BEER COMPANY

• Annual results to 1 October 2007
  Turnover: £86m (2005: £85.4m)
  Operating profit: £18m (2005: £17.8m)
  
• Interim results to 31 March 2007
  Turnover £40.2m (2006: £41.9m)
  Operating profit: £7.4m (2006: £8m)

Strategy

“We continue to benefit from targeting the growing pub food market in both managed and tenanted pubs. Our new-build programme, the acquisition of Eldridge Pope and the recent disposal of 279 tenanted pubs mean that the quality of our principally freehold pub estate continues to improve, and that food sales continue to increase as a proportion of our turnover. We are also achieving growth and greater market share in our key ale brands, particularly Marston’s Pedigree and Jennings Cumberland Ale.”

Source: Interim results statement, 25 May 2007

Chief executive

Ralph Findlay

Key directors

Chairman: David Thompson
Finance director: Paul Inglett
Managing director, Marston's Inns and Taverns: Derek Andrew
Managing director, Marston's Pub Company: Stephen Oliver
Managing director, Marston's Beer Company: Alistair Darby

Contact

Marston's House
Brewery Road
Wolverhampton
West Midlands
WV1 4JT

Tel: 01902 711 811

Website: http://www.marstons.co.uk

Commentary

Wolverhampton & Dudley started the current century in a shaky position. Its bitter takeover battle for Marston, Thompson and Evershed in 1999 (which triggered a disruptive counter-bid) followed by the acquisition of the Marston Brewery Company left it £550m in debt and vulnerable to potential predators.

They were not slow in swooping, and the company spent 14 months from June 2000 fighting off bids from Pubmaster and Robert Breare – separately and in partnership – until shareholders voted against new ownership in August 2001.

This battle played a major part in slashing W&D’s 2001 profits by 50%. However, since securing new banking facilities in mid-2004, W&D has embarked on a new spending spree and changed its name after 116 years to Marston's.