Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company (CMBC) has announced plans to close a 150-year-old brewery in Wolverhampton, putting nearly 100 jobs at risk.
According to current proposals, Bank's Brewery is set to close in autumn 2025 as part of a restructuring plan.
Beer has been brewed at the site since 1875, and it currently employs 97 people.
CMBC stated that the decision was driven by the end of a licensing partnership and a steady decline in cask ale volumes over the past several years.
The company stated that it will work closely with trade unions and staff representatives to support employees affected by the closure.
This marks the fourth brewery closure or sale that CMBC has considered over the past two years.
In October 2022, CMBC closed Jennings Brewery in Cumbria and, just weeks later, announced plans to sell the Eagle Brewery in Bedford to the Spanish brewer SA Damm.
Last year, CMBC also closed the Ringwood Brewery in Hampshire after being unable to find a buyer for the business.
Ash Corbett-Collins, chairman of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), said the closure of Bank’s Brewery was “devastating but predictable” after Marston’s sold its stake in CMBC to Carlsberg earlier this year.
“This also demonstrates the huge pressures that even global brewers are facing from the high taxation of beer, energy and raw material costs,” said Corbett-Collins.
As part of the restructuring plan, CMBC intends to boost investment in its breweries located in Northampton and Burton, as well as establish a new logistics depot in the Black Country region.
Its long-term goal is to position Marston’s Brewery in Burton as a national hub for craft beer and traditional ale in the UK.
Paul Davies, chief executive of CMBC, said: “This has been an extremely difficult decision, however it has been necessary to restructure our business to maintain our competitiveness in a challenging UK beer market.”
