Activities

Wadworth & Co is a Wiltshire-based brewer, wholesaler and pub operator whose history dates back to the late 1880s. The privately-owned company is run by the founders’ descendants.

Its estate of tenanted and managed pubs are all within 80 miles of its base in Devizes, although they extend into nine counties. They include a number of inns with rooms across both the tenanted and the managed estates (where they are known as Wadworth Inns).

Wadworth’s brewing brands include the nationally-known 6X cask ale, along with the SummerSault, Henry’s IPA, Old Father Timer, and JCB beers sold in Wadworth pubs.

Timeline

• 1875: The company is formed when Henry Wadworth buys the Northgate Brewery in Devizes, Wiltshire, in partnership with his brother-in-law John Smith Bartholomew.
• 1885: The group completes a new brewery less than a hundred yards from the original site in order to boost production.
• 1974: Wadworth reintroduces the use of working shire horses at its headquarters in Devizes.

Operating data

Number of tenanted pubs: 210
Number of managed pubs: 45 (including 13 Wadworth Inns)
Number of employees: 160 in head-office positions and nearly 500 in the managed pubs.

Strategy

The company’s objective is to continue brewing, wholesaling and retailing in the high street for the foreseeable future.

Key directors

Chairman and managing director: Charles Bartholomew
Brewing director: Trevor Holmes
Financial director: Ian Gordon-Finlayson
Sales director: Fred West
Retail director: Bob Macdonald
Tenanted trade director: Lloyd Stephens
Executive director: Major John Bartholomew
Non-executive director:  Sir James Butler

Contact

Northgate Brewery
Devizes
Wiltshire
SN10 1JW

Tel: 01380 723 361
Fax: 01380 724 342

E-mail:
Website: http://www.wadworth.co.uk

Commentary

Unlike many of its peers, Wadworth has no intention of turning itself into a one-trick pony by narrowing its focus to become a pure brewer or a pure pub retailer.

Its respect for tradition is evident by its revival of the working shire horse, and they can be seen pulling two carts through its home town of Devizes each weekday morning.

The group’s cooper, Alistair Simms, is one of just five coopers left in the country making and repairing oak beer casks.