Greenall Whitley & Co. Ltd Small Round Tin

Greenall Whitley & Co. Ltd tin tray dating from the 1960s.

Greenall's Foundation in St. Helens & Warrington

Greenall's first brewery was founded by Thomas Greenall on Hall Street, St. Helens, in 1762.
Greenall went into partnership with William Orrett and Thomas Lyon in 1787, which resulted in the purchase of the Saracens Head Brewery in Wilderspool, Warrington.
The firm began to purchase its own pubs as early as 1800, helping to gradually accelerate its competitive advantage.
In the first half of the 19th century Greenall's porters, sparkling ales, and bitters, were supplied to its own public houses proving to be a sensible strategy and giving Greenalls a strong financial foundation on which to build.
In 1840 the colourful character, Gilbert Greenall, later Sir Gilbert Greenall, joined the business, and it was he who brought in nephew, John Whitley, to help him run the Widerspool Brewery.
In 1853 the St. Helens brewery was rebuilt, retooled and enlarged.
By 1859, after the death of longtime silent partner Thomas Lyon, the Greenall family became the sole owners of both the St. Helens and Wilderspool breweries, and the Company name was changed to Greenall & Co.
Around 1860 Greenall's took over its last major local competitor, Dentons Green Brewery in St. Helens.
The Company was registered in 1880 as Greenall Whitley & Co. Ltd, and both of its breweries in Hall Street, St. Helens, and the Wilderspool Brewery, near Warrington, were consolidated into one business.
In the 1890s Sir Gilbert Greenall expanded and modernised the Wilderspool Brewery, including state-of-the-art brewing and bottling equipment, larger office space, and upgraded access to the railway network.

Greenall's Expansion Through Acquisition

From 1890, for over 100 years, the Company pursued an aggressive acquisition strategy.
In 1890 it acquired the Halewood Brewery of Edward Moss with 19 properties, followed by William Richardson of Rainford, with 24 public houses, in 1893.
In 1901 and 1910 respectively, it purchased the small tied estates of Matthew Taylor and Mary Dodd.
After the First World War acquisitions continued unabated.
From 1920 to 1931 Greenall's took over the tied houses of Fairhurst Ltd of Liverpool, Copple Brothers of Eccleston, George F & A Brown Ltd of Whitchurch, Bolton Brothers of Warrington, and John Sumner & Co. Ltd of Wigan, adding around 40 public houses in total.
After WWII however, its acquisitions were much larger and more interesting.
In 1949 the Company purchased the Chester Northgate Brewery Co. Ltd, with 140 tied houses, the Shrewsbury & Wem Brewery Co. Ltd, with 94 public houses, in 1951, Magee, Marshall & Co. Ltd of Bolton, with over 180 public houses, in 1959, Groves & Whitnall Ltd of Salford, with over 500 public houses, in 1961, the Wrekin Brewery Co. Ltd, with 94 public houses, in 1966, James Shipstone & Sons Ltd, with 280 public houses, in 1978, JPS Breweries Ltd (Simpkiss) of Brierley Hill, with 15 tied houses, in 1985, and finally John Davenport & Sons Ltd of Birmingham, with 106 public houses, in 1986.
Only Magee, Marshall & Co. Ltd and Shipstone & Sons Ltd, were given any stay of execution.
During that period, Greenall Whitley & Co. Ltd had become a public company in 1952.
In 1975 brewing was centralised at Warrington, resulting in the closure of Greenall's oldest brewery in St. Helens.

Greenall's Ceases Brewing

In 1990 brewing ceased at the Wilderspool Brewery, and Shipstone & Sons Ltd Star Brewery in Nottingham, when the Company decided to focus its business on running pubs & hotels, and was renamed the Greenalls Group PLC in 1991.
Most of the Wilderspool Brewery was demolished in 1993.
Despite the fact that brewing had ceased, the Company's acquisition strategy continued, and the retail estates of both Devenish and Boddingtons were added to its empire in 1993, and 1995 respectively.
The Company's pub estate now totalled over 2,300 properties.
In 1999 the tenanted arm of Greenall's pub estate was sold to the Japanese bank, Nomura, whilst the main operation, involving 770 public houses, and 69 budget lodges, was sold to Scottish & Newcastle Breweries Ltd.
The De Vere Group, as it had been renamed in 2005, was acquired by the Alternative Hotels Group plc, in 2006.
Much restructuring and sell-offs have occurred since.
Greenall's old beer brands were initially contracted out by Carlsberg for brewing at Molson-Coors Brewing (UK) Ltd.
The Carsberg Marstons Brewing Company still owns the Greenall's brand name.

The manufacturer's mark states - Printed in Great Britain by Reginald Corfield Ltd. M 1050