Major beer brand placed into administration & staff ‘made redundant’ in move to ‘protect firm from market pressures’ --[Reported by Umva mag]

A MAJOR beer brand has placed itself into voluntary administration to “protect itself from market pressures”.

The Fourpure brewing company has made the move months after reportedly closing a production site and taproom in London.

FourPure

In Good Company, the business that owns Fourpure and another craft beer brand called Magic Rock, said the move will “protect the brand from future liability, and tough commercial realities in the drinks and hospitality industries”.

Fourpure had previously applied for a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) in March to secure more time to pay its creditors.

A CVA allows firms that have run out of cash to look at ways to cut costs while keeping the business going, such as agreeing rent reductions with landlords.

The company said: “Fourpure would continue to exist in the same way it does currently with its beers brewed, canned and produced at Magic Rock Brewing.”

In Good Company claimed that the administration would not “impact staff” or any of the In Good Company’s Beverage Limited’s wider portfolio.

However, a number of Fourpour staff have allegedly been made redundant following the closure of the Bermondsey site, according to The Grocer.

Administration is when all control of a company is passed to an appointed licensed insolvency practitioner.

It doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the business.

Instead, administrators will try to help a company find ways to repay debts or solve its cashflow problems.

Administration can last anywhere from a few weeks to up to a year or more.

But if the administration process can’t rescue the company or find a new owner, this can lead to liquidation.

Liquidation is the process of selling all assets and then dissolving the company completely.

In Good Company chief executive Steve Cox said: “We’ve had to make a number of tough decisions to protect the overall business, which includes moving Fourpure’s London brewing operations to its sister brewer Magic Rock in Huddersfield, and this month voluntarily filing for administration for Fourpure Limited.

“Both decisions have been made to futureproof the brands and the wider business, as we look to maintain stability but also strive for ambitious growth targets.

“Anyone in the craft beer, drinks and hospitality sectors will be familiar with the current challenges of operating in this space.

“We are determined to keep taking positive strides to safeguard In Good Company and its portfolio to allow for growth and innovation.”

The company has not filed a full-year set of accounts since it was acquired by In Good Company in August 2022.

The Sun has contacted Fourpure for comment.

GOOD TIMES OVER

Fourpure was previously owned by Australian drinks giant Lion, the brewer behind Castlemaine XXXX, after being bought in 2018.

The brewer was first set up in 2013 amid a boom in craft beer across the UK.

It’s beers such as Pomegranate IPA and Juiced Mango and Raspberry are stocked in major supermarkets like Tesco, Asda, Waitrose and Ocado.

It had a brewery and tap room along the famous Bermondsey beer mile along with others like The Kernel, and Ansbach & Hobday, Cloudwater and Southwark brewing.

Fourpure isn’t the only one to depart the mile though, amid tough times for the industry.

Brew by Numbers, Affinity and Partizan are among those to have closed or moved out.

BrewDog also called time on its Hawkes cidery and taproom in the area last year.

Bigger brewers and those elsewhere in the UK have also been forced to shut some or all of their operations.

Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Co closed the world-renowned Wychwood Brewery – famed for Hobgoblin Ale – last year.

The factory in Witney, Oxfordshire, shut in November 2023 when there is a break clause on the lease with the site’s owner.

Its six staff – who have a combined 100 years of brewing experience – face an uncertain future but at the time CMBC said it would try to find them jobs elsewhere.

Hobgoblin ales, as well as Wychwood brands Firecatcher and Dry Neck beers, are now brewed at CMBC’s other sites.

The drinks giant also closed Ringwood Brewery and shop at the start of the year saying there was “no viable path forward”.

 The Temperance Street Brewery in Manchester shut up shop last year after more than a decade of trading.

The tap-room, located on the outskirts of the city centre, closed less than a year after it was taken over by new owners.

It was put up for sale after the firm said its location in a residential area made expansion a challenge, but no buyer was found

COST OF LIVING PRESSURES

The number of craft breweries in the UK fell from 1,828 at the start of 2023 to 1,815 at the start of the year.

That now stands at 1,748 according to the latest figures up to June from the Society of Independent Brewers and Associates (SIBA).

The SIBA UK Brewery Tracker takes into account all brewery openings and closures to give an accurate picture of the number of active brewing businesses.

Craft breweries have been hit hard by the cost of living crisis and the pandemic.

While many producers pivoted to home deliveries during covid lockdowns, they were then hit by rising costs combined with people reigning ion their spending.

The prices of energy, rents and ingredients have all shot up. They have also faced higher interest rates when borrowing money to grow the business.

SIBA chief executive Andy Slee said when the latest figures on closures were published in July: “Independent brewers are reporting good sales growth and strong consumer demand, yet breweries continue to close.

“For most breweries the challenge is financial pressures from rising costs and market access, as well as lingering Covid debt – something SIBA has strongly lobbied Government for help on.”

The Campaign for Real Ale’s (CAMRA) warned about the pressures on the drinks business this week as it published its Good Beer Guide 2025.

It said that many of the breweries that featured in last years guide have now closed and cited a “perfect storm” ofthe tax burden, few viable routes to market and stubbornly high energy bills among the factors.

CAMRA Chairman Ash Corbett-Collins said: “This year’s edition of the Good Beer Guide shows a brewing trade that continues to face huge challenges, but one that beer and pub lovers across the UK are still rallying behind.

“CAMRA will be lobbying this new Government to show their support for independent breweries, to try and ensure that the Good Beer Guide 2026 is brimming with new establishments.”

As well as CMBC’s closure of Wychwood and Ringwood, it said the loss of Elland Brewery just months after its 1872 porter was crowned CAMRA’s Champion Beer of Britain 2023 and the award-winning Nottingham-base Navigation Brewery was “tragic” and a blow for the local community.

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