UK Breweries in the 1970s

The number of breweries in the UK had been in decline for more than a century. Other than the clubs breweries founded just after WW I, there had been almost no new in the 20th century.

But that changed in the 1970s. In 1977, the trend was reversed and for the first time in more than two centuries, the number of breweries increased. After a stuttering start, the number of new breweries exploded after 1980.

Most brewery closures were the result of takeovers. But some, like Melbourn of Stamford, was because a vital piece of equipment gave up and there wasn’t the cash, or the will, to replace it.

Owning pubs was the name of the game. Most beer was sold in pubs. But the number of pub licences was limited. And mostly owned by brewers. The only way to get new outlets was to buy another brewery. Take the pubs and close the brewery.

The Big Six dominated brewing in the 1970s. Owning a huge percentage of the UK’s pubs, how could it go wrong? Yet it did.

At the time, it looked like they had an unbreakable grip on UK brewing. Yet after the Beer Orders they would fade into nothing. 

Number of UK breweries 1969 - 1972
Year	breweries
1969	177
1970	177
1971	170
1972	162
1973	162
1974	152
1975	147
1976	142
1977	144
1978	143
1979	145
1980	191
1981	210
1982	244
Source:
BBPA Statistical Handbook 2003, p. 92