Meet the family

"Call it a clan, call it a tribe, call it a family: Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one." Jane Howard, Author 1923-Present

“At Brakspear, we’re passionate about pubs. Our family has been running them for over 200 years and, while many things have changed in that time, the pub remains at the heart of British life. Today, as ever, it offers great food, great drink, and a place to enjoy the company of others - friends, family or fellow-drinkers.

“We are lucky to have beautiful pubs but we think it’s the people inside the pub who matter, and that means we do things differently at Brakspear. We are still family owned and run, which means we make all our decisions for the long term benefit of our company, our pubs and our customers. We think...

...you’ll notice that difference, whichever side of the bar you’re standing. We’ll treat you as an individual and care about you, whether you’re popping in for a quick pint, or partnering with us to run one of our 145 wonderful rural, community or town centre pubs.”

“We look forward to welcoming you soon.”

    Michael
    Davies
    Chairman

    1711: W H Brakspear buys a brewery on Bell Street, Henley-on-Thames

    1769: Robert Brakspear becomes landlord of the Cross Keys in Witney, Oxfordshire

    1779: Robert joins his uncle, Richard Hayward, in running the Henley brewery.

    1803: Richard Hayward dies and Robert Brakspear becomes sole owner of the business

    1812: Robert Brakspear dies. The brewery moves from Bell Street to New Street in Henley and has 34 pubs leased to it. Robert’s second son, William Henry, joins the business.

    1848: William becomes sole owner and begins trading as W H Brakspear

    1875: John Thomas Davies moves to London from his home village of Llananarthly in Wales and borrows money to build a pub, The Mansfield, in what is now Gospel Oak

    1882: William Brakspear dies, mourned by the whole of Henley

    1895: W H Brakspear becomes a public company and starts its acquisition trail, purchasing Greys Brewery in Henley and its 54 pubs for the princely sum of £57,000. Further purchases of local breweries with pubs in Wokingham, Wallingford and Goring followed over the next 45 years.

    1913: John Davies dies. The 12 pubs he built during his lifetime pass to his son Alfred, who turns the business into a limited company, JT Davies & Sons Ltd. Alfred builds the company to 64 managed pubs in London and the south east most of them leased from breweries. He is elected MP for Lincoln, serves as Personal Private Secretary to fellow Welshman Lloyd George and is knighted for his services to politics.

    1942: Sir Alfred dies at a young age following a stroke and his younger son Tony takes over the business. Predicting, accurately, that brewers will start to manage their own pubs, Tony establishes a chain of off-licences/wine merchants called Davisons. By the early 1990s, there are 85 Davisons stores.

    1973: Tony’s son Michael joins the business. Today, Michael is Chairman of Brakspear Pub Company.

    1992: Tony Davies dies, having passed the business to Michael in 1985. The company acquires 18 freehold pubs from Bass, the start of the tenanted business.

    1994: J T Davies acquires the City Wine Merchants, Mayor Sworder

    1996: Davisons off-licences are sold to Unwins. The company now owns 50 pubs, all tenanted.

    2000: J T Davies buys its first stake in W H Brakspear, adding to it in 2002 to secure a 30% share of the company.

    2002: Brakspear family moves out of direct brewing and Refresh UK brews the Brakspear beers at its Witney brewery

    2007: J T Davies acquires W H Brakspear in its entirety and turns it back into a private company, The Brakspear Pub Company, comprising 150 pubs.

    September 2007: Michael’s son Tom joins the business as commercial director and the fifth generation of the Davies family to enter the business.

    2009: JT Davies & Sons sells Mayor Sworder, its wine division, to Davy and Co of London.

      Social responsibilities

      Pubs have always occupied a special place at the heart of British life. With that unique status comes a responsibility that we take very seriously at Brakspear. It means that at all times, in our pubs and at head office, we try to make sure that our business has a positive impact on the communities around it.

      At a national level, Brakspear has committed to the Portman Group’s Code of Practice, which seeks to ensure that drinks are marketed in a socially responsible way and to adults only. We support the work of Drinkaware, which promotes responsible drinking and seeks to reduce alcohol misuse and minimise alcohol-related harm. We belong to the British Institute of Innkeeping (BII) and the British Beer & Pub Association and we follow a code of best practice when recruiting tenants for our pubs.

      Our pubs actively seek to build good relationships with their neighbours and other local stakeholders. They support the communities that support them, by raising money or offering goods in kind for a variety of local causes and charities. They work closely with police, Pubwatch schemes and other organisations to reduce the harmful impact of alcohol misuse. Wiith the continuing closure of other rural facilities such as village stores, our pubs are, increasingly, filling an important role as the social hubs of their immediate neighbourhoods.