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Laying the blame for Tetley downfall
I was employed by Carlsberg in two stints from 1995 till April of this year when I was made redundant. I cannot say how proud and excited I was when I walked into the Hunslet Road site as a 22-year-old for my first day of work in the telesales department. I was lucky enough to have started at a time when a lot of employees were from the old Tetley days and the Danish influence hadn't fully taken grip.
I blame the demise of Tetley's on two major factors. The first was the government beer orders which forced big brewers like Tetley's to sell their pubs. Once this happened the control that Tetley's had over the quality of its ale in its pubs disappeared along with thousands of guaranteed distribution points for the brands. There wasn't much bad beer that left the brewery gates, it only became a bad pint in the cellars of pubs! A situation that Tetley's could do little about.
The other factor was Carlsberg's complete lack of understanding of the UK ale market. Their constant attempts to promote their lager came at the expense of the Tetley's brand. It didn't help when the marketing department for Tetley's was moved from Leeds to Northampton. What do they know about the heritage and history of the brand and what it means to the people of Leeds and Yorkshire? They don't even pull a pint with a proper head down south!
It does, however, make me laugh when I hear comments from Camra criticising the closure of the brewery. These people have not had a good word to say about the brand for years, constantly championing the micro breweries and making out the big brewers to be the devil incarnate. Well if the likes of Camra had also supported big brands like Tetley's then it might never have come to this sorry end.
Gavin Shoesmith, email
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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