Can employee ownership protect independent brewers?

As many independent breweries continue to decline amid growing uncertainty in the industry, one business believes it has found a way to secure its future.

Rebellion Brewery in Marlow, became employee-owned on Friday, meaning all profits go back into the business and employees can receive tax-free bonuses and a stake in its success.

The Society of Independent Brewers and Associates (SIBA) said more breweries are looking at the model as many now adopt a community-led approach, via direct sales and tap rooms.

But can it work for everyone?

In 1993, the owners of Rebellion, Tim Coombes and Mark Gloyens, had a vision to revive the centuries-old tradition of brewing in the Buckinghamshire town.

When the Wethered Brewery closed its doors five years earlier, it was the first time the town had been without a brewery since 1758.

"Traditionally the brewery was the heart of the town and we've always wanted people to feel welcome and wanting people to think that it's their brewery," said Mark.

They now have 75 staff members and brew around 87,000 pints of beer every week, with more than 95% of the beer it produces sold within a 30-mile radius of Marlow.

But challenges have been felt across the brewing sector, with year-on-year declines in businesses making beer.

SIBA and the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) have said one of the reasons for a decline is that the majority of beer produced and sold in the UK is owned by four global conglomerates who squeeze independents off the taps.

And it has meant that for breweries like Rebellion, just making beer to sell in pubs is not enough.

Tim said: "We've always done beer direct to the consumer from our site, and that's helped us diversify from just supply and trade.

"We developed an entirely new shop, a home delivery service, a drive-through on site and then, in the last four years, we've developed a tap yard on site."

Tim and Mark said this business model has meant customers feel as though Rebellion "is their brewery", and is one of the reasons for becoming employee-owned.

Retail supervisor Lauren Plumridge said the news came as a "relief".

She said she had "heard about what's been going on" elsewhere in the industry, adding that it was "lovely to see it staying with the employees, not going to shareholders, which is where you risk commercialisation."

Production manager Adam Weatherley said it came as a "surprise" but that he had "always thought about the direction of the company and I think it's a really positive way of going to the next stage of the business."

Tim and Mark have decided to transfer ownership to an Employe Ownership Trust (EOT).

The trust owns the company and the profits are put back into the business where employees control how those profits are spent, rather than paying shareholders.

It also provides a 50% capital gains tax relief for shareholders disposing of their shares into the trust.

And, for employees. it means they can receive tax-free cash bonuses each year. It is also designed to allow employees to have a say in the future of the business and a feeling they have a bigger stake in its success.

Toby Grattidge, co-managing director of Abbeydale Brewery in Sheffield, which became employee-owned in 2024, said staff turnover had dropped since the change.

"Fundamentally not much has changed at the business but how people approach work and their effort has improved," he said.

Abbeydale has a board, which includes two elected employees who stay in the roles for two years.

"People are more committed, it's their money," said Toby. "From staff feedback, we have since introduced free private healthcare and increased paternity leave. We are a very open book."

Marya Besharov, from the Said Business School at the University of Oxford, said an EOT "doesn't guarantee anything".

She added: "But having a diversity of perspectives and having the people at the front lines of the organisation having a stake in the business are both very powerful ways of generating high performance."

Tim said they could have tried selling Rebellion to one of the bigger breweries.

"You only need to look back at how that generally pans out for those breweries and it's not very good unfortunately," he added.

In the Oxfordshire town of Witney, its nearly 200-year brewing tradition ended after Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company took over the Wychwood Brewery, famous for Hobgoblin beers, and then decided it should close in 2023 as part of a shift to centralise production in Burton-on-Trent.

However, earlier this month, the brewer announced the Burton factory would be closing, with residents describing the town as being stripped of its "brewing identity".

And nearly 300 years of brewing came to an end in Abingdon when Morland was bought by Greene King in 1999 and production moved to Suffolk.

SIBA chief executive Andy Slee said that "50% of brewers tell us that their principal objective is simply survival".

"Firstly, incredibly high taxation," he said. "Secondly, the costs that are rising and then, lastly, is access to their local marketplace."

He has called for a reduction on draught beer in pubs ahead of the budget amid what he said was a "suffocating level of taxation".

On employee ownership, he said it was only right for breweries of a certain size and ethos, adding: "But certainly for those that want to protect their identity and retain their unique place at the heart of the community."

And for Rebellion, a brewery whose name suggests something out of the ordinary, it seemed the logical next step.

"We just want to make sure that we can safeguard the brewery here in Marlow for the future going forward, not just for the staff but also for our local customers that have remained so loyal to us and the local community," said Mark.