Joseph Holt's Derby Brewery
Founded in 1849, Joseph Holt's Derby Brewery has remained in the family for over four generations, and - whilst being far from backward looking - Holt's values its heritage.
The early days of the brewery present a rags to riches story. Joseph Holt was born in 1813. The son of a weaver, he lived in Unsworth, a textile village north of Manchester. Between 1801 and 1851 the population of Manchester swelled from 70,000 to 303,000 as the cotton industry and its ancillary trades developed. Attracted by the big city, Joseph became a carter at Harrison's Strangeways Brewery.
In 1849, he married 40 year old Catherine Parry, a Welsh governess and school ma'am. By all accounts Catherine had a good business brain and she mortgaged property to finance a small brewery behind a pub in Oak Street in the centre of Manchester. Business must have gone well, as the Holts moved to the Ducie Bridge Brewery with a 12-barrel 'pan' in 1855. Joseph lent money to new publicans and in return they paid him 5 percent interest and sold his beer. In 1860 he bought the current site in what is now Empire Street and built a brand new brewery.
Holt thought about his business strategy and decided it made no sense lending money to people who would pay wholesale prices for his beer, when he could put in his own manager and get retail prices instead. There was a shaky start as the American Civil War brought the supply of cotton to a halt and Manchester was plunged into a deep depression. However, by the time he handed the reins over to his son Edward in 1882 he had established a chain of 20 houses.
Public house speculation brought inflated prices in the late 1890's but still Edward increased his estate and the capability of the plant to supply it. Production had reached 40,000 barrels, but in 1899 the bubble burst and the value of his assets fell dramatically almost overnight. A bottling line was installed in 1901 and this helped to boost trade, which would have otherwise fallen under the effects of the Boer War and a Licensing Act in 1904 designed to reduce the number of pubs.
In 1890, now a successful entrepreneur, Edward started to dabble in local politics. His work in extending the Manchester water supply from the Lake District was particularly noteworthy, and his service was rewarded in 1908 by being elected Lord Mayor. The temperance lobby were outraged and controversy continued for weeks; but he went on to be elected for an unusual two years in a row. Handing the mayoral chain to his successor, he is reputed to have said: "I hope this has not been tarnished too much by being on the shoulders of a brewer."
Generations of Holt's
Edward died in 1928, when the company was passed on to his son, also named Edward. The company has remained in the family, passed down through the generations. Richard Kershaw, the current Chief Executive is great grandson of the founder.
He said: "My grandmother was the second Edward's sister. He had a brother who died at Gallipoli in 1915 but had no children himself, which is why I'm sitting here. My father had two brothers who died in the Second World War so we only just managed to scrape through each generation and keep the business with a family member at the helm." Richard himself has four children so the sixth generation appears to be assured.
The company became Limited in 1922 and a Public Limited Company in 1951. A survey in 1996 showed that Joseph Holt's was one of only four publicly quoted UK companies to have increased both earnings per share and dividend in every year for the previous twenty.
Looking to the future
Joseph Holt's admits to being unashamedly old fashioned but it is far from backward looking. Expansion has continued on the three-acre site with extensions in 1979 and again in 1993. Over the last three years, some £200,000 has been spent on the brewery and plans are in place to spend money against well-structured schemes that will increase the control that Holt's has over the brewing process. Although in the entire history of Holt's Brewery, it has never changed its most successful formula - a quality pint at an inexpensive price.
Currently there are 127 Joseph Holt's houses, 93% of which are owned by the company. All lie within a 25-mile radius of Greater Manchester. The Manchester orbital M60 motorway now makes movement easier so in the not too distant future Yorkshire drinkers may also benefit from good value Mancunian cask beer.