Activities

Belhaven, Scotland’s oldest and largest regional brewer and pub operator, was acquired by Greene King in 2005 but has retained its own identity as a division within the group.

It runs a mixed estate of managed and leased pubs that range from student bars and young venues to traditional, community and village pubs and five inns. Around 95% of its pubs are freeholds.
 
Belhaven Best, its flagship beer brand, is Scotland’s best selling draught ale in hotels, pubs and clubs.

Timeline

• 1719: John Johnstone buys the brewery in Dunbar, which is believed to have existed on the site in some form since the 12th century.
• 1815: The brewery passes into the hands of Ellis Dudgeon (who married into the Johnstone family)
• 1944: Dudgeon & Co registers as a limited liability company and is controlled by the Dudgeon and Hunter families until 1972.
• 1972: Clydesdale Commonwealth Hotels buys the brewery and its seven tied houses for £82,000 and changes the company’s name to Belhaven Brewery Co.
• 1979: Belhaven is acquired by a consortium led by holiday resort operator Sir Fred Pontin.
• 1984: Nazmu Virani, a former Ugandan refugee and shopkeeper, takes over Belhaven after buying Pontins’ shares in the company.
• 1986: Ex-Bells Whiskey boss Raymond Miquel buys Belhaven for £28m.
• 1987: Following a rights issue of £90m, Miquel buys the Garfunkel’s and Deep Pan Pizza restaurant chains built up by Philip and Reggie Kaye.
• 1988: Virani’s company, Control Securities, buys the Belhaven brewery and 41 pubs for £18m, while the restaurant business becomes City Centre Restaurants (now The Restaurant Group).
• 1993: Stuart Ross leads a £23.5m management buy-out of Belhaven, backed by the Bank of Scotland, after Control Securities loses £3.8m in the wake of the collapse of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International.
• July 1996: The group, which now has 42 pubs, floats on the London Stock Exchange.
• March 2001: Belhaven announces plans to buy 15 pubs from Alloa-based Maclay Group for £4.5m.
• 2002: The group change its name from Belhaven Brewery Group to Belhaven Group to reflect the growing profit contribution made by the pub division. 
• June 2003: Belhaven raises £24.9m through a placing and open offer of shares to reduce debt and fund the expansion of its pub estate to 300 by the end of 2005.
• August 2005: Greene King agrees a £187m deal to buy Belhaven, which now has 270 pubs and more than 1,500 staff. The estate comprises 101 managed and 169 tenanted pubs and includes five inns with 51 bedrooms. The deal completes in October, when Belhaven delists from the Stock Exchange.

Contact

Spott Road
Dunbar
East Lothian
Scotland
EH42 1RS

Tel: 01368 862 734
Fax: 01368 869 500

E-mail: info@belhaven.co.uk
Website: http://www.belhaven.co.uk

Commentary

Belhaven has consistently boosted its sales and operating profits every year since the current management team took control in 1989. Its pub estate has grown vigorously from just 42 venues when it floated in 1996 to 270 by mid-2005.

The year to April 2005 marked Belhaven’s 15th year of unbroken growth and its ninth successive year of record sales and profits.

The group’s strategy has been to buy freeholds in economically healthy areas and avoid expensive leaseholds in city centre sites where trading patterns are less reliable. It prefers individual pub purchases to bulk buys as it finds the pricing on grouped premises to be materially higher.