The UK’s leading beer consumer group responds to the Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company (CMBC) announcement on the closure of Banks's Brewery in Wolverhampton
Reacting to the news that the iconic mainstay in British brewing – Banks’s Brewery – will close in late 2025, CAMRA Chairman Ash Corbett-Collins said:
“This is devastating but predictable news from CMBC. Following the buyout of CMBC by Carlsberg – essentially turning Marston’s brewing business into a globally owned brand – we expected news like this sooner rather than later.
“After presiding over the closure of Jennings, the sale of the Eagle brewery and removing cask beers from bars in Scotland in the last few years, Carlsberg Marston’s are now closing another iconic brewery – putting jobs and the cask beers brewed there in jeopardy. This is more often than not the case when a global brewer buys a traditional British cask brewer.
“However, we do welcome the news that Carlsberg are open to offers for purchase of the site for continued brewing operations. The brands brewed by CMBC at Banks's must continue to be brewed at the Marston’s brewery – their loss would be tragic for consumer choice and British beer.
“This also demonstrates the huge pressures that even global brewers are facing from the high taxation of beer, energy and raw material costs. These pressures are even more extreme for independent brewers, who have the added barrier of restricted access to the pub market, which is why it’s essential that the Government uses the upcoming Budget to support the pub and brewing industries.”
