Black sheep go into administration

[Agentgonzo]

Sad news

https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2023/05/black-sheep-brewery-enters-administration/

 

[The Baron]

I think it may end up back in the hands of the Theakston family?

 

[Agentgonzo]

I think it may end up back in the hands of the Theakston family?

I thought it was run by the family:

Black Sheep was founded by Paul Theakston in 1992 and has since been run as a by his sons Jo and Rob Theakston.

 

[The Baron]

T&R Theakston Ltd is an independent, family brewing company founded in 1827 located in the Yorkshire Dales market town of Masham, North Yorkshire. The company is controlled and run by direct descendants of the founder Robert Theakston.

Today, Black Sheep continues to champion its independence and remains with Paul Theakston's family with his sons Rob and Jo playing key roles in the brewery's daily operations.
In 1992, Paul Theakston took a daring leap into the unknown. As a fifth generation brewer of his family company, he chose to leave T&R Theakstons following its sale to a national brewery. Instead, he chose to champion independent brewing in Yorkshire and built his own brewery in the very same town, Masham.

Paul is the Black Sheep.

There was a fallout in the family re the sale of Theakstons which has since been bought back into the Theakston family
Paul considered himself the Black Sheep of the family hence the name

 

[Sneedhearn]

Very disappointing news although I read yesterday that they were in talks with six or seven potential bidders and are optimistic that the business can be saved. Lets hope so.

 

[soupdragon]

Very disappointing news although I read yesterday that they were in talks with six or seven potential bidders and are optimistic that the business can be saved. Lets hope so.

Fingers crossed I'm quite partial to Black Sheep

Cheers Tom

 

[ricardo]

Black Sheep was built up & well run by Paul for many years.
Seems like the younger family members did not have the same business sense as him.
Unfortunately.

 

[Sadfield]

Harsh considering a pandemic, brexit, cost of living crisis and a decreasing customer base, both outlets and consumers. I suspect Paul had it easy.

 

[DuncR]

Any updates?
Went to “Owd Nells” near Garstang this week and they had a full range of Black Sheep beers including a number of new beers I hadn’t seen before.
Black sheep IPA highly recommended, summer beer, not so.

 

[Sneedhearn]

The last reporting I read the business was bought by a private equity firm via a pre-pack administration and all 140 jobs have been saved.
Good news for the brewery but not so good for the original creditors I suspect.

 

[YeastFace]

Breal Capital, the ultimate parent company, was the purchaser. The company is now Black Sheep Brewing Company Ltd and appears the sale went through in May.

Looks like they've mortgaged to an affiliated company and debentured it up to the eyeballs at first glance so points to PE.

Hopefully they are all just local Masham lads that want to see their hometown brewery survive.

 

[MashBag]

I agree, hope the PE is local, but a risky play in this climate.
Good brand, if it was just a cash flow issue, happy days.

Still good news

 

[ricardo]

Redundancies announced not good news.
https://thestrayferret.co.uk/black-sheep-brewery-makes-redundancies-at-masham-office/

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Teneo Financial Advisory, which was appointed as administrators of Black Sheep, revealed sales fell from a high of £19 million in 2019 to £14 million last year, which resulted in a £1.6 million loss.

 

[LeeH]

Has a cracking pint of Respire at the Yorkshire Show last week, I love Black Sheep, hope it survives.