Archibald Arrol & Sons Ltd Round Black Backed Steel

Archibald Arrol & Sons Ltd black backed steel tray dating from the 1920s.

The Early Years

The Alloa Brewery Company, and its Alloa Brewery, was established in 1810 by William Foote, Ebenezer Thompson, and Andrew Roy.
In 1825 Andrew Roy, who had been the brewery's manager, purchased the Alloa Brewery and traded under the name of Andrew Roy & Co.
Around 1837 Andrew Roy purchased the neighbouring Hutton Park Brewery of John H.Syme.
On the death of Andrew Roy in 1855, the business was run by trustees until 1860 when it was acquired by Andrew Roy's eldest son Robert.

Arrols Ownership

In 1866 the business was purchased by Archibald T.Arrol of Glasgow who had been Roy's west coast agent.
After Archibald Arrol's death in 1888 the business was run by his two sons Walter and Archibald.
The Company was registered as Archibald Arrol & Sons Ltd in 1895 to amalgamate Walter & Archibald Arrol with J.Meikle, and its Arthur Hill Brewery. In addition, some public houses were purchased from William Turnbull. Both Meikle and Turnbull were based in Newcastle-on-Tyne.
The Company was not known for its standards of cleanliness and, in 1915, a report was published into its shockingly filthy working conditions.
In 1918 John Joseph Calder, who had been appointed by receivers for Samuel Allsopp & Sons Ltd in 1912, became Chairman of Archibald Arrol & Sons Ltd. Allsopp's lager had gained a poor reputation in England and its lager brewery had been destroyed by a fire in 1916. Calder was responsible for negotiating a deal to transfer lager production from Allsopp's Burton-on-Trent brewery, to Scotland.
From 1921 Arrol's took over production of Allsopp's lager. Brewing of Arrol's Ales and Stouts slowly decreased and lager brewing increasingly became the Company's main focus.
At first the lager was named Arrol's Lager, but in 1927 it was renamed Graham's Golden Lager, later rebranded as Skol Pilsner Lager in 1959, then simply Skol in the 1960s. Skol became Britain's best selling lager.

Allsopps Gain Control

By 1930 Samuel Allsopp & Sons Ltd had acquired a controlling interest in Archibald Arrol & Sons Ltd.
Samuel Allsopp & Sons Ltd merged with Ind Coope & Co. Ltd becoming Ind Coope & Allsopp Ltd in 1934.
In 1951 Arrol's entered into voluntary liquidation and its undertaking, including 29 licensed houses, was acquired by Ind Coope & Allsopp Ltd.
Production continued on the site and it was converted to a lager only brewery.
The Scottish Company traded as Ind Coope Alloa Brewery Ltd, later renamed the Alloa Brewery Co. Ltd.
Interestingly, Allsopp's name and famous Red Hand trade mark was retained by Ind Coope & Co. Ltd for its export market where its lager had a better repuatation. A separate Company named the Alloa Bottling Co. Ltd operated on the same site from the 1920s to its closure in the 1950s.
After several further mergers, the Alloa brewery was closed by its last owners, Carlsberg-Tetley plc in 1998, and the site was demolished in 2001, eventually becoming an Asda superstore.

The manufacturer's mark states - Hancock. Corfield & Waller. Ltd. Mitcham. London. 2.5m.26.F.R