// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhy did De Vere go to therapy? It had a suite of problems.
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| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Hotels |
| Founded | 1762 |
| Headquarters | Harrogate, UK |
| Key people | James Burrell (Group CEO) |
| Website | devere.co.uk |
De Vere is a hotels and leisure business, which until the 1990s was a brewing company known as Greenall's. It used to be listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
History
[edit]Greenall's Brewery was founded by Thomas Greenall in 1762.[1] Initially based in St Helens, the company established a second brewery at Wilderspool, south of Warrington in 1787.[2][3]
It bought the Groves & Whitnall Brewery in Salford in 1961,[4] Shipstone's Brewery in Nottingham in 1978[5] and Davenport's Brewery in Birmingham in 1986.[6] For much of the 20th century, the company traded as Greenall Whitley & Co Limited.[6] The St Helens brewery was demolished in the 1970s to make way for a new shopping centre. The Warrington brewery on the edge of Stockton Heath was bought by Bruntwood, renamed Wilderspool Business Park and is now let to office occupiers.[7]
The company ceased brewing in 1991 to concentrate on running pubs and hotels.[8]
In 1999, the tenanted wing of the Greenall's operation was sold to the Japanese bank, Nomura for £370 million[9] and the main Greenall's operation, involving 770 pubs and 69 budget lodges, was sold to Scottish and Newcastle for £1.1 billion.[10] Greenalls started to focus its resources on its De Vere and Village Leisure hotel branding at that time.[10]
In February 2005, Greenalls sold The Belfry to The Quinn Group for £186 million.[11]
The Greenall family connection remained as Lord Daresbury, the descendant of the original founder, remained the non-executive chairman. This tie was severed in 2006 when Daresbury stepped down from the post and much of the family's interest was sold.[12]
In 2006, the business, by then known as De Vere Group, was acquired by The Alternative Hotels Group plc, a joint venture between HBOS and eight investors led by Richard Balfour-Lynn, for £745.5 million.[13] The Alternative Hotels Group plc renamed itself De Vere Group in 2010.[14]
De Vere Group sold Greenall's Gin for £7 million in a private equity-backed management buyout in 2011.[15] Balfour-Lynn also stood down as chief executive in 2011.[16]
In March 2014, private equity firm Starwood Capital Group acquired the business, by then known as De Vere Venues, and integrated it into Principal Hayley Group which it already owned.[17]
In November 2014, Village Urban Resorts were sold to Denver-based private equity firm KSL Capital Partners for £485 million.[18]
In November 2016, Principal Hayley Group went through a major rebranding and re-investment project; the group became known as the Principal Hotel Company and split their portfolio between two groups of hotels: De Vere (a group of modern country estate hotels) and Principal (a group of luxury city hotels).[19]
Operations
[edit]Greenall's ales are distributed by Carlsberg and brewed for them by Molson Coors in Burtonwood, near Warrington.[20] Greenall's ales can still be bought in some pubs in the North West of England, although they are gradually disappearing. Often, only Greenall's Mild can be found. Greenall's Bitter is 3.6% ABV.[21] Greenall's Mild is 3.1%.[21]
References
[edit]- ↑ "The history of Warrington's Greenalls brewery". Warrington Guardian. 20 May 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2026.
- ↑ "A Century of Cheshire Brewers". tripod.com. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
- ↑ "Greenall Whitley (Wilderspool)". Brewery History Society.
- ↑ "Groves & Whitnall". Grace's Guide. Retrieved 26 July 2026.
- ↑ Nottinghamshire Breweries Archived 2009-01-31 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ "Wilderspool Business Park". Retrieved 20 November 2014.
- ↑ "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 14 Nov 1991". parliament.uk. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
- ↑ "Nomura set for 375m pound pub spree". The Scotsman. 7 November 1998. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012 – via HighBeam Research.
- 1 2 Greenalls pubs go Scottish BBC News, 14 September 1999
- ↑ Quinn buys Belfrey Golf Course Guardian, 11 February 2005
- ↑ Daresbury steps down at De Vere to break 244 years of family ties The Times, 18 January 2006
- ↑ Group completes De Vere buy-up Liverpool Daily Post, 6 September 2006
- ↑ The Alternative Hotel Group renamed as the De Vere Group Caterer Search, 17 December 2010
- ↑ De Vere sells historic gin distiller Insider Media, 8 August 2011 Archived 18 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Balfour-Lynn steps down from De Vere Group Caterer Search, 19 September 2011
- ↑ "Starwood Capital buys De Vere Venues". Big hospitality. 11 March 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
- ↑ "KSL Capital to acquire De Vere's Village Urban Resorts". www.ft.com. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
- ↑ "How Starwood's new Principal brand will shake up city centres nationwide". thecaterer.com. 1 November 2016.
- ↑ "Thomas Hardy Burtonwood (Molson Coors)". ratebeer.com. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
- 1 2 Draught Portfolio. Archived 2010-07-02 at the Wayback Machine
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