Robinsons Brewery has announced plans to relocate its Lower Hillgate brewing and head office operations to its packaging centre in Bredbury.
A computer-generated view of Robinsons’ new site
The family brewer and pub operator will be investing £12m in the relocation — expected to be completed by 2025 — which will see the installation of a new brewhouse, together with up-to-date, purpose-built office accommodation.
It will mean that all operations including brewing, cask racking, kegging, bottling lines, and logistics will be housed on one site for the first time since 1949. This has been a long-held ambition of the Robinson family. The packaging operation has been in Bredbury for more than 40 years.
Robinsons has been the proud custodian of the town centre Unicorn Brewery site since William Robinson acquired the Unicorn Inn in 1838, and both William and Oliver, of the current family management team, acknowledged it had been a difficult decision.
They said: “It will be a wrench. The business has a long history in the town centre and we are very respectful of the company’s role in the Lower Hillgate area.
“But the economic and logistical limitations of the site were impossible to ignore. Moving everything under one roof gives us the ability to provide a more modern, flexible, and greener brewing and packaging operation, while reflecting the company’s heritage.”
Around 50 people, who currently work in head office, brewery, and cellar service roles in Lower Hillgate, will make the move to Bredbury. Robinsons’ famous Shire horses will also be moving to a new home.
Further investment to come
The cousins confirmed that no compulsory job losses are envisaged from the move, and, in fact, it would support wider recruitment plans associated with the acquisition of new pubs — to add to its 23 managed houses — and further investment in its 230-strong tenanted pub estate.
Robinsons is currently working on proposals to re-open the Bull’s Head, in Market Square, later this year, after substantial renovations, and remains committed to supporting its town centre pub communities.
The family has been working collaboratively with Stockport Council to prepare a solid foundation across the borough and to look at the opportunity that freeing up the present brewery site would provide for further regeneration of the historic town centre.
Leader of Stockport Council, Elise Wilson, said: “It is great to see Robinsons continuing to invest in Stockport, where they have been doing business for many years. This is also really good news for jobs within the borough. We look forward to seeing their future plans for the town centre site as they are developed over the coming months.”
Oliver and William Robinson added: “This announcement demonstrates our commitment to writing a new chapter in our history in Stockport, continuing to brew, deliver, and package award-winning cask, keg, and bottled beer under 100% family ownership.”
