State Management Scheme

The State Management Scheme was the nationalisation of the brewing, distribution and sale of liquor in three districts of the United Kingdom from 1916 until 1973.

[1] The main focus of the scheme, now commonly known as the Carlisle Experiment, was Carlisle and the surrounding district close to the armament factories at Gretna, founded in 1916 to supply explosives and shells to the British Army in the First World War.

In 1922 the Enfield scheme ended and its public houses were sold back to private enterprise.

The scheme was privatised by Edward Heath's Conservative Government in 1971 and its assets were sold at auction in six lots, mostly to established brewing interests.

The scheme also involved the refurbishment of public houses, and the demolition and replacement of substandard premises.