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Adnam's - Southwold

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2. Whitbread Collapse   4. The Retreat : 5. Latest News

1. : Courage Concessions

Courage's Brewery (London) arrived locally in strength,
as an indirect result of Government action in the early 1970's.
As rather unwilling arrivals (see Breweries section)
they were only too keen to offload some of their
new-found Norwich estate.

Legally, any newer owners had only to be
other than Watney Mann.

Adnam's of Southwold fitted the bill, and were keen
to move into Norwich; being - like Courage in this
respect - historically unrepresented in the City.
Accordingly they arranged leases etc.
on three pubs in 1977 :-

The subsequent history of these 3 pioneering houses
makes grim reading for the brewery :-
The Mill went to a Free House in 2002
and has since closed permanently.
The Rose also went Free in 2003.
The Horse & Dray closed in 2006, re-opened
by November 2007, but was sold in June 2010.

2. : Whitbread Collapse

As explained under the Whitbread notes 7 pubs fell into
Adnam's hands, like ripe plums, apparently all at once -
in the early 1990s.
At one point Adnam's set-up a subsidiary company
called, imaginatively, Lacon Inns to cater for this
group of outlets.

As in the case of the ex-Courage pubs,
the outcomes have been less than impressive:-

** A transfer to Tenancy Tavern Inns
     apparently preceded the free house. 		 

3. : Fighting Back

By the advent of the New Millennium, Adnam's
had suffered 3 losses (more were to follow;
as detailed above).

As a quid pro quo for the Champion, the brewery
acquired a Free House, the Steam Packet, near
Rose Lane, in the same year (1996).

By 2000 the Plasterers (Cowgate)
had joined their portfolio.
In 2000 the St. Andrew's Tavern was added.
Both these pubs had been Free Houses.
The final Free House acquired around 2000
was the Vine in Dove Street; but was closed
("moth-balled"?) in late-2006.

Almost as blatant as the retributional policy of acquiring
Free Houses, is the fact that all 4 of these pubs lie
within the City Walls, unlike most of the (mainly failed)
pubs mentioned in paras. 1 - 2 above.

Clearly the brewery were learning some lessons,
and were now having to work harder to secure
pubs individually.

4. : The Retreat

A true City Centre pub, the Vine, was up for sale
for most of 2007.
In mid-November 2007, Adnam's announced that
two other pubs would follow : the Steam Packet
and the Plasterers' Arms.
The latter is hardly a City Centre pub; and the former
'pre-empted' any sale, by closing in April 2008
(but see Para. 5)

This was likely to leave just two tied City Centre houses
i.e. the re-opened Horse & Dray
and the St. Andrew's Tavern.

Further out of the City, there remain only :-
the Mustard Pot and the Rose Valley.

Of possible future relevance to the City, is a clear
pattern emerging in other areas of Norfolk -
from Wymondham to Blakeney.
This is a cosy arrangement between the two Suffolk
breweries, which sees Greene King  "IPA" and
"Old Speckled Hen" sold alongside Adnam's
standard (3.7 abv) 'Best' bitter.

This happens in pubs variously described as
Free Houses, Punch Taverns etc. It is debateable
which of the two 'regular' ales is the more unpalatable.
It would help if Adnam's 'Best Bitter' were to recover
to match its former glories.

5. : Latest News

In 2008 the Plasterers' Arms was bought by
Scottish & Newcastle (September); and the Vine
re-opened as a Free House (November).
In September 2009 the Steam Packet re-opened
as a Free House.

So much for Adnam's declared wish to sell
all the 'surplus' Norwich pubs in one job-lot.
S. & N. went instead for two Suffolk pubs
(September 2008).

A recent re-launch of the St. Andrew's Tavern has seen
the name revert to the better, and more historical,
Rumsey Wells.

Closed in January 2010, the Horse & Dray
was sold by the brewery in the following June
- to the chinese restaurant next door.

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