Brewers and Brands from yesteryear - Gibbs Mew, Salisbury

Salisbury Horse Racing

Mention the city of Salisbury and likely you'll be thinking of the fabulous Cathedral or perhaps its friendly horse racing track, or indeed most lately on the darker side its been in the news for the Salisbury poisonings. However, for aficionados of beer and brewing history it was once home of long established regional brewer Gibbs Mew. Gibbs, whose pub estate totalled more than 300 no longer exist and their beers apart from Bishops Tipple are long gone. So what happened? In this short blog I'll try to write their story.

Gibbs Mew roots can be traced back to Salisbury from 1858 when Mr Gibbs moved his brewing operation to the Anchor Brewery in Salisbury. Other breweries were acquired over the years including in 1898, Herbert Mews Brewery. Gibbs Mew was then established. Like other regional brewers they serviced the local area and built up a strong pub estate. They also had their own bottling line, (bear in mind most brewers were doing returnable bottles and were primarily for use in pubs), plus a kegging line.

In 1960 they purchased the Lancashire Clubs Federation Brewery Ltd which encompassed the Clough Springs Brewery. Even today a southern based brewer purchasing one based in the north might raise a few eyebrows but in 1960 that would seem a bizarre decision. However, the beer market would have been very different then and against the backdrop of increased sales in keg beers and the rise of beer sales in clubs I can just about see the attraction, but still it seems an ambitious decision. A separate company was formed to run this side of the business called Gibbs Keg Breweries Ltd but was not a success and brewing ceased after two years, the Clough Brewery eventually becoming Hammonds Vinegar Brewery!

The late 1980's bought opportunity in the form of the 1988 Monopolies and Mergers Report which potentially freed up many pubs to take a guest cask ale. Also, some of the bigger brewers sought to rationalise their pub estates to focus on pub retailing and began selling off large packages of the smaller tenanted pubs to regional brewers. Gibbs were well placed to take advantage of the latter but their beer brands apart from Bishops Tipple were less favourable.

Firstly the pubs, in 1988 in a deal worth a staggering 10 million pounds Gibbs purchased 105 pubs from Grand Metropolitan, hugely increasing the size of their pub estate. It seemed a good fit as the pubs were largely based around Wiltshire and Somerset and it meant they could sell their own beers in these pubs more than doubling sales. Having experienced a similar pub acquisition in my days working at Morland in Abingdon when they too bought large packages of tenanted pubs (from Courage), suddenly forcing your beer brand on the bar replacing the local drinkers favourites is challenging and in many cases does not work. At Morland we had the advantage of Old Speckled Hen, a strong brand with an excellent reputation that the new pubs were happy to have, but our standard bitter at the time, Morland Original did less well and we had many problems bedding in the new beers.

Wadworth Bishops Tipple

Gibbs only had Bishops Tipple as a recognisable brand and at 6.5% abv and largely sold in bottles it offered little attraction for drinkers in the newly acquired pubs. Gibbs standard cask brands including Wiltshire Bitter and Salisbury Best Bitter did not fare well and I'm sure their marketing team at the time would have experienced similar to myself in trying to bed these new beers in.

The lack of creditable beer brands led Gibbs to look elsewhere for expansion and they purchased an half share in Bournemouth based Wholesaler Coopers of Wessex. Beer Wholesaling was an opportunity for growth but also a low margin business. I recall applying for a job with Gibbs in the early 1990's and was surprised to find the job was basically working for the Wholesaling part of the business and not the brewery. Perhaps this was a sign they had lost focus and had moved away from trying to create a strong beer brand of their own?

In 1994 Gibbs purchased more pubs acquiring 197 with the Centric Pub Group, a Northern tenanted pub chain. This bought their pub estate to over 300 pubs. However mistakes had been made as Gibbs had been too slow to sell off 40 underperforming pubs and likewise with the closure of the Centric Head Office. A new beer brand launch for Bridgers Gold Ale in the nitrokeg market had also been a flop and this had to be withdrawn. The costs were adding up and profits falling fast for Gibbs, plus the brewery itself was also in need to vital refit.

Gibbs Mew ashtray showing company logo

Ultimately the lack of creditable beer brands led to falling sales and profits and the future of brewing beer in Salisbury came into question. Sadly, the brewery was closed in 1997 and the brewing of its beers moved to Ushers in Trowbridge. That did not last very long as Ushers themselves closed their brewery in 2000. The Gibbs Mew beers apart from Bishops Tipple where then lost. The latter is now owned by Wadworth, a suitable home for a Wiltshire beer brand and although the abv has been reduced to 5.5% abv, its still a worthy and tasty beer.

The decision to close the brewery had been long in coming and many would ask why it had not happened sooner. Gibbs had fought fiercely for their brewery and business which included repelling a hostile takeover bid in 1994 from Brierley Investments. However in 1998 Enterprise Inns came calling and in what would have been the year of its centenary, the Gibbs Mew pub estate then mustering 310 pubs was acquired for £48m, with the deal making instant millionaires of three Directors including Ron Gibbs, the last surviving family member. 

So there lies the tale of Gibbs Mew. In truth their beers never had a great reputation and are not much missed. However, its always sad to see nearly 100 years of brewing history in a city come to an end. Today, brewing in Salisbury is upheld through some new brewers and both Dark Revolution and Hopback Breweries produce some fine beers. I particularly enjoy the Hopback Summer Lightning, a superb beer. Just imagine, if only Gibbs Mew had managed to brew a Hopback Summer Lightning then perhaps things might have been different!

Hopback Summer Lightning

Sources and thanks

Wadworth Brewery; Salisbury Journal; Richard Percivals Breweriana; Independent online; Brewery History online