Webster's Brewery
Webster's Green Label, a light mild, and Yorkshire Bitter gained national distribution after the company was taken over by Watney Mann in 1972.
Samuel Webster (1813–1872) was born in Ovenden, a small village about 2 miles from Halifax town centre.
[4] Webster acquired the small Fountain Head Brewery in Ovenden Wood in 1838 when he was 25 and opened an office in Union Cross Yard, Halifax.
[4] The temperance movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, and emergency laws aimed at restricting drinking during the First World War created difficult trading conditions for brewers.
[15] Samuel Wentworth Webster, a director of the company and grandson of the founder, died in 1928 with a personalty of £45,000 (£2.2 million in 2010).
[16] In 1928, one of the brewery's most successful beers was launched; Webster's Green Label, a light mild ale.
[12] In 1957, Webster's took over the brewer, John Ainley & Sons Ltd. of Huddersfield and Woodhead Brothers of Elland, near Halifax, a mineral water manufacturer.
[19] In 1961 Webster's bought Daniel Fielding & Sons of Halifax, which added 19 public houses to their tied estate.
[21] In return Webster's brewed and sold the brewery conditioned Watney's Red Barrel ale throughout their tied estate.
[21] In 1962, a reciprocal trading agreement was reached with Ind Coope's North East division which saw Webster's houses stock lager for the first time.
[34] The takeover saw heavy investment in the brewery and the Webster's brands enjoyed increased distribution nationally.
[39] By that year Webster's had an annual revenue of around £100 million and claimed 7 per cent of the national bitter market.
[8][40] However Courage owned the higher selling John Smith's ale brand, and Webster's was deprioritised.
[50] The brewery site was chosen for its Pennine spring which provided the ready water supply necessary for brewing.
[59] Having previously been used for storage, in 1986 the historic Long Can Hall was converted to function as the brewery's visitor's centre.
[67] The brewery had been running at "well below" 50 per cent of its 1.3 million barrel capacity which was deemed "unsustainable" according to Scottish & Newcastle management.
[68] Although productivity per employee had been the highest of any of Scottish & Newcastle's brewing plants it was claimed that it would have required substantial investment if it was to remain competitive.
[75][76] It was marketed as their response to the growing popularity of Yorkshire bitter in the south of England, particularly John Smith's.
[83] Roger Protz has described the brand as "almost redundant" and production of cask conditioned Webster's beer was ended in 2010.
[2][84][85][86] Webster's Pennine Bitter was known for its slogan: "Drives out the northern thirst", first used in 1970 and supported throughout the 1970s by a local television campaign featuring Yorkshire cricketer Fred Trueman.
[87][88] In the advertisements, Trueman would breathe fire after drinking his pint of Pennine Bitter and say "We like things right in Yorkshire – like our beer.
In the summer of 1984, Webster's Yorkshire Bitter invested £100,000 into English cricket, with the aim of finding six fast bowlers by winter.
