Pub Companies
This page attempts to list all the firms which own or operate more than one pub in this area. Some of these are also brewing firms, others are ‘pubcos’. This list is intended to give an idea of what to expect from each company’s pubs
in this area. For fuller details, see elsewhere, for instance, the back pages of the
Good Beer Guide.
- Admiral Taverns
- Formed 2003, now a big national company with a diverse range of pubs. Range of cask ales in the local pub.
- Pub list
- Barracuda
- A company formed in June 2000 specialising in branded chains. One pub hereabouts with no real ale.
- Pub list
- Bowland Village Inns
- Local firm started 2009 with so far two, very food-oriented, country pubs. A couple of real ales in each.
- Pub list
- British Waterways Board
- Own pubs by canals, mainly leased to other pubcos.
- Pub list
- C2 Investments
- Currently own four pubs, with one in Lancaster and one in Morecambe. All have eight cask ales including Lancaster and Thwaites.
- More...
- Pub list
- Calco Midlands
- Offshoot of finance group Caledonian, have bought a few small pubcos in the last few years. Real ale? What's that?
- Pub list
- Carleton
- A small Morecambe-based company
- Pub list
- Chameleon Pub Company
- A small pubco reflecting one man's vision. Six pubs (or perhaps pub-restaurants) in Tyneside and Yorkshire and two in our area. All sell cask ale but mainly from large, well-known companies.
- Pub list
- Copper Dragon
- Skipton micro buying pubs since 2005
- Pub list
- English Lakes Hotels
- Five hotels, only one with real ale, not in our area.
- Pub list
- Enterprise Inns
- The nation's biggest pub owner having acquired pubs from various sources. These vary considerably, but familiar brands predominate. One or two pubs are now taking advantage of a deal whereby they can buy direct from micro-brewers, a move to be applauded.
- Pub list
- Greene King
- This Suffolk brewer has now got one pub in this area.
- Pub list
- Hydes Brewery
- The old-established Manchester brewery opened a new pub in Lancaster in 2007, far from their other houses, which naturally sells their cask ales.
- Pub list
- Inns & Leisure
- Based in Preston. About 20 pubs and hotels, two in Lancaster. Beer-lovers should generally avoid.
- Pub list
- Intercontinental Hotels Group
- The former Bass, now a "leisure group". Has disposed of its pubs and breweries, mostly now owns branded hotels with no decent beer.
- Pub list
- Inventive Leisure
- is the Ashton-under-Lyme based company behind Revolution Vodka Bars. Inventive was created in August 1991. Today it operates 29 Revolutions and 10 other outlets including 4 night clubs and a live band venue.
- Pub list
- J D Wetherspoon
- A familiar branded chain, mostly big pubs with low prices and a good range of beers - but quality varies considerably from place to place.
- Pub list
- James Places
- Clitheroe-based firm currently owning three hotels where good beer features (and also a home furnishings shop).
- Pub list
- Kirklands Entertainments
- Small local company. No cask beer.
- Pub list
- Lancaster Lounge & Bars
- A couple of Lancaster entrepreneurs who started off in "lounging" bars and now run four establishments in Lancaster. Two of these sell real ales, mainly from smaller firms.
- Pub list
- Marstons
- The former Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries, renamed after a more glamorous subsidiary. Whatever the name on head office, the Jennings name has the highest profile round here. Nearly all their pubs have cask beer, occasionally with beers from other companies. There are few in this area, but they are still buying, so this may change.
- Pub list
- Mitchells
- A former local brewer. Now offers a pretty good choice of beers to its licensees : a few are keg-only.
- More...
- Pub list
- Mitchells & Butlers
- The last lot of former Bass pubs were spun off to a new firm taking the name of an old brewery. Branded pub chains; three pubs locally, one with a token cask ale.
- Pub list
- private
- means a traditional free house, ie, the owner has no other pubs. They are usually owned by individuals (who are not named here to avoid falling foul of the Data Protection Act) rather than companies.
- Pub list
- Punch
- One of the giant pubcos. Plenty of real ale, but too much of it is dull. Currently selling quite a few pubs.
- Pub list
- Robinsons
- A well-known brewer.
- Pub list
- S Lakeland Caravans
- Owns a string of caravan sites and holiday chalet parks around Morecambe Bay, where bars usually feature but cask beer doesn't.
- Pub list
- Samuel Smith
- Only one pub, with no cask ale
- Pub list
- Scottish & Newcastle Breweries
- Now owned by Heineken. Still manages quite a few pubs, mostly for the Royal Bank of Scotland, which are run as S&N tied houses and identified as such in the pub list.
- Pub list
- Tchenguiz Family Trust
- Robert Tchenguiz controls several pub chains including Laurel and Yates Wine Lodges. These remain a diverse collection but as a generalisation we may say he isn't a beer connoisseur.
- Pub list
- Thwaites
- Leapt into the position of the area's biggest pub-owner by taking over Yates & Jackson (a local brewer) in 1984, but has lost that position by closing and selling so many pubs. Nearly all of their pubs around here sell cask beer. Recently, pubs have improved choice, and more are of acceptable quality.A very few sometimes sell non-Thwaites ales.
- Pub list
- Trust Inns
- Based in Chorley but with a national spread of pubs. Have picked up an odd rag-bag of ex-national brewers pubs, which remain an odd rag-bag.
- Pub list
- Weston Castle
- A newish company buying a number of pubs from Mitchells and Thwaites. Committed to traditional pubs, where “traditional” includes karaoke and plasma screeens, but probably nothing to interest a discerning drinker.
- Pub list
- Whitbread
- Former brewer now leisure chain, retains a few pub-restaurants attached to hotels: no real ale.
- Pub list
