Sponsored by
YOUR VIEWS: Leeds's Tetley's Brewery closure - updated November 11
Read your views on the planned closure of Leeds's Tetley's Brewery.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? Click here to send us an email with your thoughts on the closure of Tetley's Brewery in Leeds.
Circumstances took me away from Leeds in 1949 when I was just 17 and I still have great affection for my home town. However I am concerned for it's future status and prosperity. I was shocked and saddened to hear about the closure of Tetley's Brewery.
Tetleys, Leeds, and Yorkshire are fundamentally inseparable and if the brand is retained but the beer brewed outside Yorkshire I just don't want to know. It seems to me to be yet another blow to the city.
Tetleys is a great asset, image-wise, to Leeds and if any way can be found to retake the brand from Carlsberg and keep brewing in Leeds then it should be grabbed.
B Harvey, Chippenham, Wiltshire
****
Greetings YEP,
I would like to see:
A campaign which sees all Yorkshire folk boycott all Carlsberg products.
The original Tetley building have a preservation order put on it, or listed building status.
Leeds Council placing an order on the site against any change of use.
Tetley's and Tetley's Brewery has for generations been a Yorkshire and Leeds institution. We must keep it as part of our heritage.
Keep campaigning
Regards
Ian M Fulstow
****
Let's have some leadership from the YEP on this fellas! Surely a campaign to keep the brewery in Leeds at least?
No doubt there will be the usual meaningless pledges of help from the likes of Yorkshire Forward, etc, and lots of hand ringing from various MPs which won't count for a jot in the boadroom at Carlsberg.
As a born and bred loiner who moved away from the city 11 years ago, I always made a point of having a pint of the old brew when I was back in town and in a pub selling Tetleys. And its true - its never tasted the same elsewhere!!
So sad that this is happening and a real historic landmark could be disppearing from the city centre as a result. No doubt it will be replaced by yet more expensive, faceless flats which will lay empty because no-one wants them!!.
RIP Tetley's Brewery
Stu Arnold
****
I've just read the comment that Tetley was the best-selling cask ale in the world. If that is true then the sooner it disappears the better. It must be responsible for putting thousands of people off drinking real ale.
If a pint of insipid Tetley is your first taste of real ale then I'm not surprised that many go straight back to lager. Now if they started with anything from Timothy Taylors they would be hooked on real ale for life
Peter Sweeney
****
It is vitally important that this brewery is saved, not just to save the livelihood of 170 workers, but is part Leeds's heritage. The problem is Carlsberg, a multinational company is only interested in Producing generic products such as it's it's lager, which is the same wherever you go, like Coca Cola or McDonalds. Tetley's is Leeds beer, take it away from the city and it could be anything.
Tetley should be a bespoke brand. Brewed in Leeds since 1822, that is where it should to be made.
I would welcome a campaign to keep keep the brewery open perhaps even getting people to boycott Carlsberg products if this helps.
Brian, Leeds
****
In my view, this closure is a direct result of Leeds City Council policies.
The council's planning department has continually allowed 'employment-use' land to be given over to residential development. Maybe that is because the Council keeps Council Tax income but not Business Rates.
Whatever the reason, Leeds is going to end up with more and more manufacturing businesses departing the City because the land is more valuable to build thousands of flats on and the Council is more than happy to allow it. Whether there will be enough jobs for people in the City is another matter.
So don't just blame Carlsberg - they are rightly aiming to maximise their business profits based on and encouraged by the Council's policies.
Mark Snee, Morley
****
It's disgusting that this should be allowed to happen when Carlsberg's interest in Leeds is clearly only in the 100m worth of real estate they can sell to line their pockets with. Tetley's is an iconic brand, synonymous with Yorkshire, and world famous. How dare Carlsberg put it down to falling sales - real ale sales are on the up, according to CAMRA. If they had bothered to invest in the brand like other success stories (John Smith's only a few miles up the road is the UK market leading bitter brand, Samuel Smiths, Theakstons, Black Sheep, Timothy Taylors all do very well) rather than let it become a shadow of its former self, this would never have happened.
Carlsberg also chose to sell all the historic Tetley pubs, finally even removing the Tetley brand from the company name, in order to push their tasteless lager fizz that has nothing to do with Yorkshire. What in the world has Northampton got to do with brewing? If brewing moves outside Yorkshire, the bitter capital of the UK, I will never drink another pint of Tetley's again. The only decent thing to do would be to sell the Tetley's brand to an independent, and keep it in Yorkshire.
Chris Smith, Henley-on-Thames, ex of Bradford
****
Sad,sad day what next take the pudding out of Yorkshire?
Allan Marotte, Perth, Western Australia
****
I get home about three times a year and one of the first things I try to do is get a pint of hand pulled Tetley's at the Gaping Goose. It's just not the same down south.
Clive
****
As a CAMRA member for 30 years I'm not suprised as the beer has not been marketed by its foreign owners and instead all vehicle and advertising space has been used to promoting "probably the worst lager in the world".
Sales must have been falling as the beer has been overtaken by numerous better quality beers from smaller family owned or micro breweries.
Many real ale drinkers like myself used to swear by Tetleys and it is and always has been a mediocre pint but when the breweries had total control of the pubs it was the best available.
I'm sorry to hear the news but expect some "copy" to be contract brewed and still carry the same name.
The real reason for closure is the obvious profit to be made by selling the site for re- development with its usual blocks of future slums.
James Brook
****
I'm writing in response to the proposed closure of Tetley's Brewery in Hunslet. As a Leeds lad my beer of choice has always been Tetley's as the famous brewery is one of Leeds' most prized assets and I feel that the whole of Leeds and the surrounding area is proud of our "home" brew. This is an outrageous decision by Carlsberg which will ultimately lead to the demise of the Tetley's brand as I am certain the vast majority of drinkers within our county will boycott the brand should it leave our city boundaries. To say that the decision is being made for the future of the organisation is well and good, but is is surely not being made in the best interests of Tetley's itself and I'm sure we're all regretting the day that Tetley's was sold to greedy foreign hands. Leeds has changed dramatically in the last 186 years and one of the few constants has been the employment provided by Tetley's and the smell of hops as you walk around Hunslet. We cannot allow one of the crown jewels of our city to be sold for development at a time when Leeds already has an oversupply of overpriced highrises. We don't need more commercial development at this time. What we do need is to keep our famous old brewery running and I can only hope that someone steps forward with an offer to buy Tetley's from Carlsberg so it can go back to being an independent brewery and do Joshua Tetley proud. He'd be turning in his grave if he knew what was happening.
Cheers
Marcus
PS Can the YEP start some kind of campaign to save Tetley's?
****
As an ex-employee of Carlsberg I feel sorry for some fellow ex-colleagues that remain at the site. They have worked hard to ensure the success of the products brewed and take pride in their work. We all have a part to play in the breweries closure as we all strive for cheaper products at the supermarket, forcing the big chains to push the producer for cheaper products. Sadly a factor that affects so many British manufacturers. Keep your chins up and be proud of the beer you've brewed and packaged for millions over the years.
Math Schofield
****
Incredible to even consider Tetley brewed away from Leeds. Not a drop of Carlsberg will pass my lips from now on.
Chris, Alicante
****
I am a former worker of the Tetley Brewery in Leeds and worked there long before the Danes took over and began to destroy the Tetley Brand. The Brewery used to be such a great place to work and what made it special were the people, workers and managers alike, we all got along and you were recognised for your contribution. Then came Carlsberg and the rot began to set in almost instantly.
The management either left the business or turned their backs on the workers in favour of career progression.
I realise that everything changes and that Carlsberg has to compete but they have stripped the assets (including the staff) at Leeds Brewery and used it as a catalyst until they developed their Northampton plant with a view to shutting Leeds, this is fact.
As for the workers, they have grafted to keep the Brewery profitable, I really feel for them and hope they manage to find new jobs soon, walk away from Carlsberg and pay them the same respect they have been paid, in other words don't help out for another two years and then be thrown on the scrapheap, but I have no doubt the management will have sewn up any redundancy deal to ensure they keep people there to squeeze even more profit from them until they have no use for them anymore when they will turn their backs on them.
God bless Tetley's, a legend of Yorkshire industry.
Neil
****
You can take your lager out of Yorkshire but please leave our Tetley's
beers alone!! Down size if you have to but please don't let our brewery disappear!!
Fudgie, Leeds
****
I visited Tetley's brewery last month with a party of brewery historians. I thought the writing was on the wall when we were told the company's 48 x 270 barrel stainless steel open-top Yorkshire square fermenters were being chopped up for scrap. I told CAMRA Vice Chairman Bob Stukins this.
The firm are now only have 19 x 540 barrel enclosed Yorkshire squares, installed in 1996, for cask ale production.
As the company cease to use parts of the premises we were told they were being "closed-up."
M. Toft, Silsden
****
Well, the rumours have been around for several years, but the decision to finally close the historic Tetley's brewery won't only upset those who work there.
Regardless of the official line taken by Carlsberg UK, the real reason for the closure of the brewery is the value of the land it stands on, a far higher value than that of the brewery itself, and the wishes of Tetley drinkers all over Yorkshire to see their favourite beer continue to be brewed there will have no effect on the corporate greed of the Danes.
At least Leeds will still have a good brewery when this one has gone, but that is little consolation for fans of Tetley beers.
Mike Roebuck, Dewsbury
****
It has been obvious for a while now that Tetleys would be sold for development land.
It should come as no surprise as the distribution was moved out long ago and Carlsberg don't really care where the beer is brewed - as long as it is cheap to brew.
Let's concentrate on the real ales produced by the other Leeds brewery and forget the chemical produced of late by this multinational conglomorate who seem to be only profit motivated.
Simon Hunt, Welwyn Garden City
****
Yet again a Great British tradition is being wiped from existence. Carlsberg should never have been allowed anywhere near Tetley's, they were only ever interested in the distribution chain already in place.
They soon sold off many of the pubs and have not been bothered about the consequences. Jobs were lost almost immediately after the takeover when assurances were made that none would be lost.
It is a systematic destruction of a valued and much loved institution - the shire horses, the branding and corporate identity, the Duke William pub, a whole history. Probably Tetley's may have needed help at the beginning of the Nineties but that is now eclipsed by today's events. Such a sad day.
Judith Thorpe
****
This is an outrage. Tetley's is as Leeds as United. I'm boycotting all things Danish from hereon.
Neil Jeffries, London SE20
****
We used to be a proud nation, keen to support our industrial heritage. What are the people of Leeds doing to support their local brewing industry? Drinking other brands of lager instead.
I suppose the first nail in the coffin was the sale of Tetleys to a Danish owner who doesn't give a monkeys about our heritage.
Andrew Peart, Leeds
****
Let's face it, it was on the cards. Just like Youngs in Wandsworth, the site is worth much more to develop. they must think the economic climate will have picked up by 2011.
Providing the building is kept and developed (is it listed?), not too bothered. It's history but we have to move on. The quality of the ale is inconsistent, let it disappear; how many people drink this average ale when you can have Taylors Landlord or, ironically, Leeds pale at the bar?
Nathan Cross
****
It's a joke and how can Northampton be the biggest earner ? It's part of Yorkshire and Leeds and I think it's more to do with the land at Tetleys than anything else. I urge all Leeds people to in future drink John Smiths and let's see how long Tetleys survives down south. Disgraceful.
Stephen Waterhouse
****
I feel strongly at the closure of Tetley's brewery by some outside conglomerate that came, saw and destroyed an age old business in the heart of Leeds. Since approximately 1792 beer has been brewed at the side of the Aire. The brewery even had the distinction of closing a public hightway due to expansion in its heyday. Tetley's even boasted of being one of the largest brewers of real ale in the world.
I have had friends work at Tetley's over the years and heard how modern methods were slowly introduced to wring more profit out of the marque. My brother was an apprentice cooper in the late 1950's when apprentices came out of their time at 21 years of age by being put in a barrel and having all types of liquids poured over their heads and then rolled down the yard.
All these traditions are now a thing of the past, and now the Brewery is to be closed. Greed is a major part of this closure and investors must be paid their dividends. I believe Carlsberg actually demolished an original pub on the brewery premises when Tetley's became an acquisition, which was a listed building? So much for traditions.
I would like to see investment from the city of Leeds in the new Leeds Brewery in Holbeck which produces the Midnight Bell drink - run by a young workforce and expanding in spite of the recession. Let's support our own city brewers. Maybe they could employ ex-Tetley employees and carry on a tradition we should be proud of and not let huge businesses destroy our heritage.
Cheers,
Paul Hancock
****
The writing was on the wall when their next door neighbours Yorkshire Chemicals folded and the land was sold to developers in 2004.
Yorkshire's Kirkstall Road factory has also suffered the same fate. Around 1,000 jobs were lost when they closed.
As an ex-employee of Yorkshire Chemicals, or The Yorkshire Dyeware and Chemical Co as it was when I started work at the Hunslet Road site in the early Sixties, I have every sympathy with the Tetley's workers. A very sad day for the city of Leeds. I'm afraid the Leeds Chamber of Commerce et al have taken their eye off the ball in recent years, although I suppose we're still up there in the financial sectors. God help us!
OK I may be getting off topic a little, but surely somebody saw this coming with Tetley's. There were rumblings when it was proposed that the ill-fated Supertram should run through part of that land.
It could be the Yorkshire Post next. I suppose we'll be having to rely on the Manchester papers for our news. Our friends over the Pennines have grabbed all the glory in recent years.
Come on Leeds. Where are we heading? Where are our plans for the future?Just more closures I suspect. And what will we do with all the empty land...build more apartments..if and when the building industry picks up?
T.Pollard
****
I started at Tetleys as a junior clerk in 1962 aged 15. It was a great place to work and I have many happy memories of the six years that I worked there.
The subsequent success of Tetleys as a National Brand made you feel proud to come from Leeds and to be associated with it in some small way.
It will now go the same way as many other beers - contract brewed at some nameless beer factory. Very Sad
Mike Gill, St Albans
****
This could mean the end for Tetley Bitter as a national ale brand. It could even expire completely unless Carlsberg comes up with some credible scheme for its future production. Has Carlsberg given any hint where Tetley will in future be produced?
If it ends up being brewed out of Yorkshire it could have a massive impact on future sales, especially from pubs and bars in the north where the brand is viewed as an iconic Yorkshire ale.
I suspect scores of long term licensee stockists of Tetley will be dismayed at this news and could already be looking long term at a future without Tetley in their bars.
A Halstead
****
Tetleys is the finest, most consistant pint in the UK.
Its Leeds heritage and all shud be done to continue brewing in Leeds , using the water it has always used for centuries that gives it that unique flavour.
I have tasted 'Tetley' brewed elsewhwere when in Wales and it was foul!
Carl, Leeds
****
* Click here to enjoy a picture memory lanne slideshow looking back at the history and heritage of Leeds's Tetley's Brewery.
* CLICK HERE FOR LATEST ON LEEDS'S TETLEY'S BREWERY CLOSURE.
Closure a shock says Leeds Chamber of Commerce president: Click here for full interview.
Closure a 'sad day' for Leeds says council leader: Click here for full story.
Workers stunned by announcement: Click here for full story.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Leeds
Sunday 12 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 0 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 4 C to 8 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: North west
