Busy brewing in Bedford (Wells & Young)

Wells & Young's has undergone huge changes in the last two years. But as Dominic Roskrow reports, the parent company has been evolving for decades.

It says masses about the major upheavals that have taken place at the brewery formerly known as Charles Wells that ever since Beers of the World was launched in 2005, we have been trying unsuccessfully to visit the brewery.

Meetings have been scheduled, postponed, cancelled and rearranged and emails have been exchanged and ignored. At times we thought the management was trying to avoid us.

And of course it was. Because if there’s one thing worse than having to look after a nosey journalist when you’re busy integrating a new company or portfolio of brands, then it’s looking after a nosey journalist when you’re secretly planning to acquire, merge or take over one.

In short the company has been busy these last two years. And every time it thought it was ready to tell its story, along came another business proposition to ruffle everything up.

Dealing with the Bedford brewery in the last two years has been like chasing a chicken feather in a gale.

The upside of all the turmoil, however, is that good things come to those that wait. An ambitious company, it has negotiated a path through the choppiest of economic waters in the last 30 years. The merger with Young’s and the acquisition of the Courage brands are just the latest chapter in an ongoing expansion story with its roots in the mid 70s.

Head brewer and production director Jim Robertson takes up the story: “In 1976 the Wells family took the decision to build a new brewery and if they had not done so, none of this would ha.....

To read the rest of this article you can buy this issue or subscribe to Beers of the World to have every issue delivered direct to your door.

By Dominic Roskrow

Section : Regional Focus

Page number : 22