Report: Anheuser-Busch InBev to close London’s historic Stag Brewery
Seeking to cut costs in the U.K. market, Anheuser-Busch InBev plans to close the famed Stag Brewery in Mortlake, which is located in west London, according to media reports.
Anheuser-Busch InBev, the new company created out of the merger between Belgian brewer InBev and St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch Cos., made the cost-cutting decision because InBev already had sufficient brewing capacity in the U.K., media reports said. About 180 people are expected to lose their jobs with the closure, according to the Times of London.
Anheuser-Busch originally got a stake in London’s Stag Brewery (no relation to Belleville’s old Stag brewery) through a 1995 joint venture with British brewer Scottish Courage Ltd. Two years later, A-B acquired full control in the operations, which brewed Budweiser. It was A-B’s only brewery in Europe.
The brewery’s history reportedly goes back to the 15th century. (Hmm, maybe William Shakespeare quaffed some of the ale once made there).
The BBC quoted a brewing engineer who said the cost-cutting move was a shock. “We think we’re a lean, mean brewing outfit, and we want to be given a chance,” Simon McGuinness told the BBC.
Bloomberg reported the company also attributed the move to a sharp rise of U.K. tax on alcohol.
For more, see the Times of London or BBC stories.
(1 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
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this was coming before inbev was in the picture…
Who cares? I’m worried about Schlafly selling out to the Chinese!
Schlafly, the largest locally owned brewery in St. Louis. What did you expect from dem Brazilians.
well, with this as it was coming is incorrect. There was no plan at AB to close it, it has been brought up at times , but the presents of a AB brewery was important in the UK, the statement of shock is not what people across the pond are saying, It is much stronger words being used, but dont bet that beer sales in the UK will look favorably on this….. just watch.
In-Vest Bev already know that the brewery in St.Louis have got the highest
production cost in the US.They owed nothing to St.Louis.Expect the St.Louis AB brewery to be compleatly shut down in less than 5 years.
I think it is hilarious that the guy who was quoted from the brewery there in England has Guinness in his name…
Steve M,
The brewery in St. Louis is one of the most cost efficient breweries in the system so please get your facts straight.
In addition to bleeding the employees the masters at InBev will start to bleed the product quality as well. Beechwood aging will cease to exist in all but name only before very long. This is so like watching a loved one die of a long, protracted illness. A pox on the “free market” politicians that allowed this to take place while bailing out American automakers so they can build more cars in Canada and Mexico.
…because those Canadians are such cheap labor…
Actually, the Canadians ARE cheap(er) because they’re non-union. I would bet that the plants in Canada and Mexico are higher-tech than the ones in the states, too.
The labor costs in Belgium, where Inbev has a lot of breweries is MUCH higher than in the United States, also the labor is highly unionised and strikes are common. And yet inbev (and interbrew before that) managed to be a very succesful business. Clearly labor costs aren’t everything.