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The last of Reading’s famous Three Bs – the Berkshire Brewery – finally closes its doors for good today
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The final ‘B’ is taken out of Reading today

By Paul Robins
April 02, 2010

The last of Reading’s famous Three Bs – the Berkshire Brewery – finally closes its doors for good today.

The historic beer site follows biscuit maker Huntley & Palmers and Sutton Seeds bulbs out of the town after 225 years of brewing here.

But the phased two-year closure has ensured that hardly any of its 362 workers will be heading to the dole queue.

Bosses at Heineken said the outplacement programme has ensured almost all of those who have left so far have got new jobs or been retrained.

Brewery manager Tom Robinson – who is moving to Australia to work for Fosters – said: “I’m massively proud of the people on this site and how they have performed.

“This is the closure of a chapter but not with any bad feeling.”

Scottish and Newcastle made the shock announcement to close the six million litre brewery in February 2008.

It signalled the end of Reading’s brewing heritage which began with H & G Simonds’ brewhouse in Broad Street in 1785.

It moved to a site 100 yards south of Gun Street, where it remained for 200 years, until its successor Courage Brewery decided to move to Worton Grange in Imperial Way, South Reading.

From there it made Fosters, Kronenbourg 1664 and Courage Best – and has even created a special beer to commemorate the closure.

Mr Robinson said the decision to close came down to economics.

“Unfortunately over the last 30 years the sales of beer have reduced,” he said.

“The site was built in 1979 and from that point beer consumption reduced and costs needed to be reduced.

“As a business we found that we could take the volume that we produce in Berkshire and put it within the rest of the network.”

A handful of engineers and security staff will remain on the 58-acre site while it is decommissioned.

probins@reading-epost.co.uk

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3 'B' are no longer - but ages ago I heard that Reading was a town of 3 'C's - Computers, Commuters and ...

can't remember the 3rd! any ideas...

Jan Hearn
06/04/2010 at 14:26

Get a life Hugh!

Howard Thomas Common Sense party
04/04/2010 at 00:48

My dad worked there for nearly 30years from the day it opened. My fiance also worked there for 5years before being made redundant in december 2008 in the 2nd phase of the closure. It was a brewery not a chemical factory, for that i am certain. I have many fond memories of the place, from the courage imperial football team, the old football ground, the on site clubhouse, to the final football tournament played on the site last year. I knew a lot of the workers who had been there many years and wish them all the best for the future. A sad Day.

kee03, Caversham
02/04/2010 at 23:30

The decline in UK manufacturing over the past 30 years is a key reason why 44% now want a hung parliament. This can be achieved by Lib Dems, Greens and UKIPers voting Labour in Reading West to block a Tory Commons majority, but further up the Tory target list in Reading West voting Tory to block another Labour one.

Hugh, West Mids
02/04/2010 at 19:48

Sad Day from 3 B's to 2 C's Computers and Chav's

Rockybalboa
02/04/2010 at 19:17

As a 20yo Temp, I worked on the original site in a "terrapin" building assisting the Costings Engineer when they were fitting-out with stainless steel pipework...£29.96 for a 2" bore, 90-degree, 6" bend...one of those strange things you remember forever.

Zadadka, Reading
02/04/2010 at 14:23

My Dad worked for simmonds, courages and finally S&N until he retired, I remember Courages being a major employer in the town, they used to have a sports ground in Coley and a couple of really good social clubs, one in the brewery itself and another opposite the police station. I had a couple of chance to start work at the brewery but turned them down, just as well it seems!

Steve Coppells love child
02/04/2010 at 14:16

The brewery closed years ago to be replaced by a chemical factory. It is a chemcial factory that closes today, not a brewery.

whitespirit
02/04/2010 at 14:11

"It signalled the end of Reading’s brewing heritage . . . " Not quite - we now have the wonderful Two Bridges brewery in Reading, and quite frankly their offerings are vastly superior to anything the giant fizzy-eurolager factory ever made!

<Burp, farp>

One who knows, Chaversham
02/04/2010 at 10:17

The end of an era. My very first job was organising three tours a day of the newly opened brewery for six months. There was a whole team of people at the brewery to show people around and host sampling sessions at the on-site bar.