Brewery founders hand control of business to staff
Management of the Rebellion Beer Company has moved to workers through an Employee Ownership Trust.
Brewery founders hand control of business to staff
The founders of a brewery have passed control of the business to employees in an effort to protect its future.
The Rebellion Beer Company in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, which supplies chef Tom Kerridge's restaurants, has moved the books into an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT), meaning the brewery will now be run by its staff.
Founders Tim Coombes and Mark Gloyens took the step amid rising uncertainty in the brewing industry, after recent closures and closure threats elsewhere in the sector.
Gloyens said he was "really pleased" that the future of the business would be "safe in Marlow for years to come".
Kerridge said the Rebellion Beer Company had "always been a people first company".
He called the move "heartwarming and exciting for the company" and added: "Long may Rebellion continue and flourish."
Under an EOT, brewery staff will gain greater job security and a share of company profits.
Coombes and Gloyens said they would remain involved in the business "over the next few years" while the new management team, "made up of existing long-term employees", begins taking over the running of the brewery.
The Rebellion Beer Company is based on Bencombe Farm in Marlow.
Founded in 1993, the company currently employs about 75 staff and brews 87,000 pints of beer every week.
More than 95% of the beer it makes is sold within a 30-mile radius of Marlow.
Coombes and Gloyens said they started the company 33 years ago because they wanted to revive the town's brewing tradition after the closure of the 200-year-old Wethered's Brewery in 1987.
The business partners said the transfer would "safeguard the future of the brewery in its current location on Bencombe Farm for years to come".