Northampton Brewery Co. Ltd Round Tin

Northampton Brewery Co. Ltd tin tray dating from the 1950s.

Early Years of Trading

The brewery, with its maltings, was built in 1856 on Bridge Street, Northampton, for the Phillips brothers.
The Phillips Brothers were soon brewing quality ales which outsold all their competitors in the region.
One of the brothers was Thomas Phillips who later owned the Dock Brewery in Newport, Gwent.
In 1868 Samuel Lipscomb Seckham became a partner having provided additional capital for the business.
In 1869 the well-known NBC star trade mark was introduced.
Samuel Seckham became the sole owner of the business in 1874 and he re-branded the operations as the Phoenix Brewery.

Northampton Brewery Co. Ltd Registration

The Company was registered as the Northampton Brewery Co. Ltd (N.B.C.) in 1887.
In 1890 the Company acquired the Lion Brewery of Allen Burnettt in Northampton.
In 1898 the Company purchased Hall's St Giles Brewery in Oxford with 4 tied houses.
Samuel Seckham died in 1901 and his son and heir, Major Bassett Thorne Seckham declined to keep on running the business.
In 1904 Northampton Brewery Co. Ltd bought W.J.East & Co. Ltd of Milton Malsor in Northamptonshire with 9 public houses.
From 1900 until the 1920s trading proved difficult and this was not helped by the onset of the First World War, together with a fire which damaged the brewery in 1916.

Between The Wars

Between the two World Wars, N.B.C. continued to struggle although it did purchase Eady & Dulley Ltd of Market Harborough with 42 licensed houses, in 1929.
In 1932 NBC formed a Company named the Home Butler Ltd with the aim of developing the retail family trade. Sadly this part of the business was wound up in 1941.
After the Second World War, the Company began to re-invest in the business including the acquisition of Phillips Stamford Brewery Ltd with 70 public houses in 1952, and a major re-build of the brewery in 1954.
In order to maximise opportunities arising from the sale of bottled beers and take advantage of reduced costs, NBC merged with Phipps & Co. Ltd in 1957 with 420 public houses.
The new Company was named Phipps Northampton Brewery Co. Ltd.

Watney Mann Ltd Acquisition

The Company was acquired by Watney Mann Ltd in 1960.
In 1964 the name of the Company was shortened to Phipp's Brewery Ltd and this changed again to Watney Mann (Midlands) Ltd in 1968.
The last batch of real ale was produced in May 1968.
Watney Mann Ltd was acquired by Grand Metropolitan Hotels Ltd in 1972 and the Phoenix Brewery closed shortly afterwards in 1974.
The brewery was demolished and a massive new modern lager brewery was built on the same site by Carlsberg-Tetley in the 1970s and is still operating.

The manufacturer's mark states - Reginald Corfield Ltd Lombard Road. London. S.W.19.