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Leeds fury at Tetley's move UPDATED
Leeds reacted with fury today to the severing of the historic link between the city and Tetley's beer.
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It emerged yesterday that brewing giant Carlsberg is pressing ahead with plans to close Tetley's city centre plant with the loss of up to 170 jobs.
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And to add insult to injury, it revealed production of the famous cask ale – brewed in Leeds since 1822 – would switch to a brewery in the West Midlands.
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The lesser-rated Smoothflow will still be produced in Yorkshire – at the Coors Brewery in Tadcaster –- but that has done little to appease beer drinkers and other influential figures in the city.
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Leeds North West MP Greg Mulholland today called on the city to boycott Carlsberg lager in protest.
He said: "This is an appalling decision by Carlsberg UK and a complete betrayal of the 180 years of brewing history in the city.
"I'm calling on the good people of Leeds to boycott Carlsberg lager to show this huge company what we think of their attitude towards our famous beer."
The MP has also tabled an Early Day Motion in Parliament, condemning the closure of the brewery.
The Carlsberg Tetley site in the city centre is now scheduled for closure in early 2011. It is, at present, unclear whether any of the 170 jobs will be transferred to Tadcaster or elsewhere.
The company will move production of its lager to its Carlsberg site in Northampton.
Fellow Yorkshire MP John Grogan said cricket legend Freddie Trueman – who used to be the face of Tetley's bitter – would be "spinning in his grave" at the announcement.
Mr Grogan, MP for Selby and chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Beer Group, added: "By transferring Tetley's cask ale out of Yorkshire, the brand will never be quite the same again.
"I just cannot believe that there was no viable option to produce cask ale in God's own county. Carlsberg has always been very protective of their own heritage but rather careless of other people's."
Leeds City Council leader Andrew Carter said: "Whilst I am very pleased that Tetley's Smoothflow will be brewed in Tadcaster, I am profoundly disappointed, as a lot of other people will be, that the great tradition of brewing Tetley's Cask Bitter and Mild in Leeds, is to come to an end.
"The principle of Tetley's Cask Ales being brewed at Wolverhampton is hard to swallow."
Former chairman of the British Guild of Beer Writers, Leeds-based Barrie Pepper, said: "It is an appalling let down – they have not tried hard enough to keep the cask ale brewed in Leeds.
"With the money the company has, it could have built a smaller plant in Leeds to keep it here in the city.
This is a purely commercial decision with no regard for the history of Tetley's.
"I think the reaction in Leeds will be huge and that they (Carlsberg] will lose out – I think people will stop drinking Tetley's."
YEP beer writer Simon Jenkins said: "It is deeply ironic that the product they have chosen to keep in Yorkshire is the Smoothflow beer that is massively inferior to the traditional Tetley Bitter. Tetley's will never be the same again if it is brewed in the Midlands and people might decide to switch allegiance to Leeds Brewery which will have a stronghold on the city."
Bob Stukins, Campaign for Real Ale vice-chairman and Yorkshire resident, added: "It is difficult to comprehend how this latest move will be received positively by pub-goers when this historic brand is stripped of its provenance and tradition in 2011 and shipped over 100 miles away from its Yorkshire heartland."
After an interim announcement about the possible closure in 2008, the YEP launched a campaign to Keep Tetley's A Yorkshire Pint which was praised in Parliament.
Carlsberg UK said it had spent 18 months working to secure the best possible partners to continue to brew Tetley's – Molson Coors at Tadcaster for Smoothflow and Marstons in Wolverhampton for the cask ale.
Leeds Carlsberg Tetley brewery director Andy Hume said: "We looked at all realistic options in Yorkshire to brew Tetley's cask, however there was not the suitable capacity available. As such we needed to find the best option outside of Yorkshire in terms of quality and processes and Marston's provides this."
Carlsberg marketing director Darran Britton said he was confident that the traditional Tetley's taste would be maintained – Marston's uses the same square fermenting vessels currently used to produce Tetley's cask.
Tetley's master brewers would begin work at both of the new sites within the next few weeks, setting up processes for the transfer. The same recipes and unique Tetley's yeast would be used, he said.
Mr Britton said it was "too early to say" about job losses, adding: "It is to some extent reliant on the new partners whether there will be opportunities."
He said the company's sponsorship of local sporting teams, like the Leeds Rhinos, would continue.
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Weather for Leeds
Saturday 11 February 2012
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