Life as an independent UK brewer can be hard to swallow, so what better way to forget the storm and stress of commerce than to take to the open sea? GrowthBusiness speaks to Jonathan Adnams.

Life as an independent UK brewer can be hard to swallow, so what better way to forget the storm and stress of commerce than to take to the open sea? GrowthBusiness speaks to Jonathan Adnams.

If you thought social responsibility was a fad that has emerged during the past few years when businesses were flush with money to spend on marketing spin, think again.

Regional brewer Adnams, based in Southwold on the Suffolk coast, has been involved with the local residents since George and Ernest Adnams bought the brewery in 1872.

‘We’ve always had some involvement and sense of responsibility to the community,’ says Jonathan Adnams, the great, great grandson of one of the founders, who is currently captaining the business.

The executive chairman says that the brewer’s level of engagement includes having its own in-house environmental team, donating one per cent of profits to charity, helping to clean the nearby beach and encouraging staff to work with the voluntary fire and lifeboat crews.

It was this last activity that forged the 51-year-old’s love of the sea. ‘I worked as member of the lifeboat crew for 27 years,’ he says. ‘But you have to retire at 45. The sea is still part of my life.’

Jonathan joined the family business in 1973, working in brewery engineering. He joined the board in 1988, running pubs and property before assuming the role of managing director in 1997 and switching to his present role in August last year.

Balancing his commitments with work and the lifeboat was never a problem. ‘It was just understood that when you were called upon, you had to go out,’ he says. ‘You balanced your job and your role on the boat because that’s how it was. It was accepted that three to four people from the company would take part.’

Unable to let go
Since retiring from service on the boat, Jonathan has invested in a 43ft Italian yacht called the Sole Bay (the name of the brewery and of the first lifeboat he worked on). The make is a Grand Soleil 43, which’ll set you back about £150,000. ‘I had to keep on sailing,’ he says. ‘I do it throughout the year too, whatever the weather. It’s great taking other people on board, seeing their faces as they experience the bracing power of the wind and the waves.’

The appeal of life on the great blue is straightforward for Jonathan. He says he’s not the type to sail the Atlantic or laze about in Caribbean sunshine: ‘For me, it’s about choppy waters and spray in the North Sea. I like the challenge of navigation there. Then you’ve got Holland and the West Country, which are beautiful.’

New horizon
It’s not all been plain sailing for Jonathan, however, as the company has embarked on cost reductions in the past couple of years, trying to steer a course through the troubled waters of the beer market, which is shrinking by two per cent per annum. For cask ale, demand is shrinking by seven per cent every year, which has left regional brewer Adnams with tough choices to make.

Effectively, operations are now split into two. On the one side is the beer, on the other is a retail business that encompasses two hotels, 80 pubs, mail order and internet wine sales, and eight Cellar & Kitchen shops.

Restructuring has been required to diversify and improve efficiency. In effect, it made sense to stop and take stock of how the business has evolved. ‘We’ve grown considerably,’ says Jonathan. ‘We used to be very patriarchal in how the company operates, but now it’s much freer and allows people to grow.’

The restructuring has seen a new distribution centre built in Reydon, just a mile inland of Southwold. It ticks all the environmental boxes too, says Jonathan, being energy efficient and sustainable in design.

This was decided before the “greenwash” of 2007. He notes: ‘The plans were put together in 2003/04. We could have gone for the standard tin shed warehouse, but thought we’d go for something that was safe and beneficial for the local surroundings.’ Such investment during a shrinking market appears not to have hit this PLUS-listed concern too hard, with 300 employees and profits of £4 million being posted on sales of £46 million.

The trick for the brewer will be to make a success of its new sales channels, appealing to a younger generation while retaining its rustic British image so beloved of ale drinkers. What’s clear is that Jonathan still pines for his days on the lifeboat, when he was on call every day of the year.

‘I loved every minute of it,’ he says.