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Whitbread
Whitbread, previously trading as Whitbread, Martineau & Co., is a British multinational hotel and restaurant company headquartered in Houghton Regis, England. The business was founded as a brewery in 1742 by Samuel Whitbread in partnership with Godfrey and Thomas Shewell, with premises in London at the junction of Old Street and Upper Whitecross Street, along with a brewery in Brick Lane, Spitalfields. Samuel Whitbread bought out his partners, expanding into porter production with the purchase of a brewery in Chiswell Street, and the company had become the largest brewery in the world by the 1780s.
Its largest division is currently Premier Inn, which is the largest hotel brand in the UK with over 785 hotels and 72,000 rooms. Until January 2019 it owned Costa Coffee but sold it to The Coca-Cola Company. Whitbread's brands include the restaurant chains Beefeater, Brewers Fayre and Table Table. It has not operated a brewery since 2001.
Whitbread is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
The business was formed in 1742 when Samuel Whitbread formed a partnership with Godfrey and Thomas Shewell. They acquired a small brewery at the junction of Old Street and Upper Whitecross Street, along with a brewery in Brick Lane, Spitalfields, which was used for brewing pale and amber beers. Godfrey Shewell withdrew from the partnership as Thomas Shewell and Samuel Whitbread bought the large site of the derelict King's Head brewery in Chiswell Street in 1750. The new brewery was for the specific production of porter, and was renamed the Hind Brewery after the Whitbread family coat of arms.
While not the first to brew porter, Whitbread was the first to exploit it commercially on a large scale. This coincided with an increase in beer consumption in the UK, following regulations to limit the sale of gin owing to the excesses of the Gin Craze. By 1758 production at Chiswell street was 65,000 barrels and the firm had become the largest firm of porter brewers in the UK. From the outset, Whitbread was the leading financial partner, and solely responsible for management, and in 1761, Whitbread acquired Shewell's share of the business for £30,000.
By the 1780s Whitbread had become the largest brewery in the world. In 1796 the company produced 202,000 barrels of porter. The firm struggled after the death of Samuel Whitbread Sr, and saw ownership transfer to his son, also called Samuel Whitbread. The company adopted the name Whitbread & Co. Ltd in 1799.
By the 1810s, Samuel Whitbread Jnr (1764–1815) had brought in several new investment partners including his cousin Jacob Whitbread and the Master Brewer John Martineau I (1758-1834). Four generations of Martineau's descendants, father-to-son, would later sit on the board of Whitbread, including John Martineau I's great great grandson, John Edmund Martineau. In 1812, the company merged with the Martineau Brewery holdings and by 1816, leadership was shared between William Henry Whitbread, Joseph Martineau and his father John Martineau I, who died in an industrial accident in a yeast vat in the brewery in 1834. Joseph Martineau became a partner in the business at the time of the merger – the same time as his father John. Three years later, in 1815, annual production reached 161,672 barrels, which at 36 gallons each, equated to over forty-six and a half million pints. Another of John's sons, Richard Martineau, later also became a partner. The business was known as Whitbread, Martineau & Co. until the mid-1840s. By 1860, William Henry Whitbread - nephew of Prime Minister Earl Grey, shared partnership of the firm with John Martineau II (1834-1910) - grandson of John Martineau I and grandson-in-law of Lord Stanley of Alderley.
In her published 1877 autobiography, John Martineau I's niece, author Harriet Martineau, wrote that she had been a guest at "the great Brewery" in December 1831 where she had presented herself "without notice" to her "kind cousin [John's son, Richard Martineau (1804 - 1865)] and his family" at the "great Brewery [where] night after night, the brewery clock struck twelve, while the pen was still pushing on in my trembling hand". She continued: "I was really glad to be alone during those three eventful weeks, - feeling myself no intruder and being under the care of attentive servants".
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Whitbread
Whitbread, previously trading as Whitbread, Martineau & Co., is a British multinational hotel and restaurant company headquartered in Houghton Regis, England. The business was founded as a brewery in 1742 by Samuel Whitbread in partnership with Godfrey and Thomas Shewell, with premises in London at the junction of Old Street and Upper Whitecross Street, along with a brewery in Brick Lane, Spitalfields. Samuel Whitbread bought out his partners, expanding into porter production with the purchase of a brewery in Chiswell Street, and the company had become the largest brewery in the world by the 1780s.
Its largest division is currently Premier Inn, which is the largest hotel brand in the UK with over 785 hotels and 72,000 rooms. Until January 2019 it owned Costa Coffee but sold it to The Coca-Cola Company. Whitbread's brands include the restaurant chains Beefeater, Brewers Fayre and Table Table. It has not operated a brewery since 2001.
Whitbread is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
The business was formed in 1742 when Samuel Whitbread formed a partnership with Godfrey and Thomas Shewell. They acquired a small brewery at the junction of Old Street and Upper Whitecross Street, along with a brewery in Brick Lane, Spitalfields, which was used for brewing pale and amber beers. Godfrey Shewell withdrew from the partnership as Thomas Shewell and Samuel Whitbread bought the large site of the derelict King's Head brewery in Chiswell Street in 1750. The new brewery was for the specific production of porter, and was renamed the Hind Brewery after the Whitbread family coat of arms.
While not the first to brew porter, Whitbread was the first to exploit it commercially on a large scale. This coincided with an increase in beer consumption in the UK, following regulations to limit the sale of gin owing to the excesses of the Gin Craze. By 1758 production at Chiswell street was 65,000 barrels and the firm had become the largest firm of porter brewers in the UK. From the outset, Whitbread was the leading financial partner, and solely responsible for management, and in 1761, Whitbread acquired Shewell's share of the business for £30,000.
By the 1780s Whitbread had become the largest brewery in the world. In 1796 the company produced 202,000 barrels of porter. The firm struggled after the death of Samuel Whitbread Sr, and saw ownership transfer to his son, also called Samuel Whitbread. The company adopted the name Whitbread & Co. Ltd in 1799.
By the 1810s, Samuel Whitbread Jnr (1764–1815) had brought in several new investment partners including his cousin Jacob Whitbread and the Master Brewer John Martineau I (1758-1834). Four generations of Martineau's descendants, father-to-son, would later sit on the board of Whitbread, including John Martineau I's great great grandson, John Edmund Martineau. In 1812, the company merged with the Martineau Brewery holdings and by 1816, leadership was shared between William Henry Whitbread, Joseph Martineau and his father John Martineau I, who died in an industrial accident in a yeast vat in the brewery in 1834. Joseph Martineau became a partner in the business at the time of the merger – the same time as his father John. Three years later, in 1815, annual production reached 161,672 barrels, which at 36 gallons each, equated to over forty-six and a half million pints. Another of John's sons, Richard Martineau, later also became a partner. The business was known as Whitbread, Martineau & Co. until the mid-1840s. By 1860, William Henry Whitbread - nephew of Prime Minister Earl Grey, shared partnership of the firm with John Martineau II (1834-1910) - grandson of John Martineau I and grandson-in-law of Lord Stanley of Alderley.
In her published 1877 autobiography, John Martineau I's niece, author Harriet Martineau, wrote that she had been a guest at "the great Brewery" in December 1831 where she had presented herself "without notice" to her "kind cousin [John's son, Richard Martineau (1804 - 1865)] and his family" at the "great Brewery [where] night after night, the brewery clock struck twelve, while the pen was still pushing on in my trembling hand". She continued: "I was really glad to be alone during those three eventful weeks, - feeling myself no intruder and being under the care of attentive servants".