Fuller's to close Gale's brewery

March 6, 2006: Fuller's has confirmed that it intends closing the Gale's brewery, at Horndean, in Hampshire, on March 31.

Since Fuller's acquired Gale's in December there has been a vociferous campaign to keep the historic Hampshire brewery operational.

But the London firm has decided to move brewing of HSB, Butser, Festival Mild and Prize Old Ale to its Chiswick base. Gale's Bitter will be discontinued, as Fuller's says that it's own London Pride is preferred in the firms' tied houses.

Fuller's chief executive Michael Turner said: "Fuller's has invested over £17 million in the Griffin Brewery [at Chiswick] over the last six years, and this has helped to ensure the quality and consistency of our beers, and underpinned our success. There is capacity at Chiswick and the investment required to continue brewing at Horndean would, sadly, be prohibitive.

"I would like to pay tribute to everyone at the Horndean brewery. Since our acquisition of Gale's, the team in Hampshire has been exemplary in assuring that the union of these two family brewers is as seamless as possible."

Fuller's will announce its preliminary results for the year ended April 1 on June 9, and will provide a further update at that time.

The closure will hit the community of Horndean hard. "For over 150 years the Horndean Brewery has dominated village life and its prosperity, providing employment and support for many local people from the actual brewery workers, to the bakery, the post office and other tradesmen," said a spokesman for the Save Gales group. "All will be hit hard.

"CAMRA has reacted angrily at the devastating news for pub users, real ale drinkers and the brewery's staff. Fuller's have said they will brew Horndean Special Bitter (HSB) at Chiswick. But how will a Horndean resident who has lost their livelihood, react to seeing a beer with their village name that has been brewed in a London suburb is perhaps something Fuller's should ponder.

"Last month the superb Gale's Festival Mild, a wonderful brew originally created for a local beer festival, won top awards at the National Winter Beer of Britain Competition. Fuller's claim they will be supplying it for their Spring Festival but will it be the same beer? Need we even ask?

CAMRA chief executive Mike Benner said: “Fuller's justified the closure by saying it expects to make savings of around £3 million. This is a small amount to gain in return for destroying a century and a half of Hampshire’s heritage and dealing a blow to all fans of Gale's beers.”