Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries Ltd Round Enamel

Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries Ltd enamel tray dating from the 1940s.

Bank's & Co. Park Brewery

Bank's Park Brewery in Wolverhampton was established in 1875, and traded as Bank's & Co.
Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries Ltd was registered in 1890 to acquire Banks's & Co. Park Brewery, Charles Colonel Smith's Fox Brewery, and George Thompson & Sons, Dudley and Victoria Breweries, with a total of 193 public houses.
All brewing was concentrated at its Bank's Park Brewery.

Expansion Through Acquisitions

The story of Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries Ltd after its registration is one of expansion through numerous acquisitions.
Before and during the First World War, the Company purchased four local breweries and almost tripled its number of public houses.
In 1908 it acquired the North Worcestershire Breweries Ltd in Stourbridge with 135 tied houses, in 1912 it purchased Rolinson & Son Ltd in Netherton, and in 1913 it took over the Kidderminster Brewery Co. Ltd with 126 tied houses.
During the First World War, in 1917,  it purchased the City Brewery Co. (Lichfield) Ltd which owned 200 tied houses and a maltings which the Company continued to operate.
Trading was very successful both before and after the Second World War, and the Company continued its acquistion of other breweries.
In 1943 it took over Julia Hansons & Sons Ltd in Dudley with 200 tied houses, and continued to operate it until 1992.
In 1947 the Company was floated on the stock exchange.
In 1951 it purchased John Seedhouse & Sons, a smaller brewery in Tipton with about 10 public houses, and in 1960 it acquired Herbert Newnam in Stourbridge.
In the following years, the Company acquired a number of larger breweries.
In 1992 it purchased the Lion Brewery of J.W.Cameron & Co. Ltd, which it later sold, whilst retaining some public houses.
In 1999 it acquired both the Mansfield Brewery Co. Ltd with 400 tied houses, and Marston, Thompson & Evershed Ltd with a large number of public houses.
The brewery estate and brewery of Jennings Brothers Ltd in Cockermouth was taken over in 2005. The Jennings Brother Ltd acquisition resulted in Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries Ltd becoming the third largest UK brewer.

Marstons PLC

The Company name was changed from Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries PLC to Marstons PLC in 2007.
Marstons PLC purchased the Ringwood Brewery Ltd in 2007, the Wychwood Brewery Ltd in Witney in 2008, and the brewery of Charles Wells Ltd in Bedford in 2017, although Wells retained its pub estate.
In 2015 Marston PLC also purchased the beer brands of Blackburn brewer Daniel Thwaite & Co. Ltd. This portfolio includes Wainwright's Bitter and Lancaster Bomber.
Marstons PLC sold its brewing operations in a joint venture with Carlsberg UK in 2020, forming the Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company. Marston's held a 40% share in 2022.
At the beginning of 2021 Marston's took over the running of 156 public houses from S.A.Brain & Co. Ltd. in Cardiff.
The Company currently owns over 1,500 public houses across England and Wales.
The Company closed Jennings Brothers Ltd in 2022, the Wychwood Brewery Ltd in 2023, and the Ringwood Brewery Ltd in 2024.
In addition it has announced that the original Bank's Victorian Park Brewery will close in 2025.