__NOTOC__ London Fields Brewery was a

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...

in the

London Fields London Fields is a park in Hackney, London, although the name also refers to the immediate area in Hackney surrounding it and London Fields station. It is common land adjoining the Hackney Central area of the London Borough of Hackney. The p ...

area of the

London Borough of Hackney The London Borough of Hackney ( ) is a London boroughs, London borough in Inner London, England. The historical and administrative heart of Hackney is Mare Street, which lies north-east of Charing Cross. The borough is named after Hackney, Lond ...

, London. It was founded in 2011 with significant success riding the wave of new

craft beer Craft beer is beer manufactured by craft breweries, which typically produce smaller amounts of beer than larger "macro" breweries and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as emphasising enthusiasm, ne ...

s, though by December 2014 the company had fallen into trouble following the arrest of co-founder Julian de Vere Whiteway-Wilkinson, on suspicion of

tax evasion Tax evasion or tax fraud is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to red ...

. In 2017, London Fields Brewery was purchased in a joint-venture by Brooklyn Brewery and Carlsberg UK with plans to bring brewing back onsite. In 2023 Grace Land Group acquired London Fields Brewery from Carlsberg.

History

The brewery opened on 27 August 2011, at 374 Helmsley Place. It was the first commercial brewery to open in Hackney since the 19th century. Five beers were produced, named: ''Hackney Hopster'', ''London Fields Bitter'', ''London Fields Session Ale'', ''London Fields Gold'' and ''Love Not War''. ''Love Not War'' received especially favourable press due to its significance in relation to the London riots. It was promoted as "first brewed barricaded in the brewery during the London riots". Alongside a wide and highly successful distribution of its products throughout London, the brewery itself worked alongside numerous entertainment companies and helped produce events in London. These included Background Cinema, Elsewhere Festival, and Festifeel. The brewery was founded by Julian de Vere Whiteway-Wilkinson and Ian Burges, around the time of the

2011 London riots A series of riots took place between 6 and 11 August 2011 in cities and towns across England, which saw looting and arson, as well as mass deployment of police and the deaths of five people. The protests started in Tottenham Hale, London, follo ...

, with approximately £10,000 of capital. Prior to founding the brewery, Whiteway had been jailed for 12 years for his part in a cocaine smuggling organisations. When founding the company, Whiteway still owed the Crown £3.2 million, including £1.2 million in interest. The court granted Whiteway permission to create the company as a way to repay the courts whilst rehabilitating into a legitimate career, however, he was ordered to pay back £500 a month throughout this time. Whiteway's lawyer argued that a stay in repayments would allow his client to grow his capital more quickly, and asked the court to allow the company to fulfil export orders to 14 countries. As of December 2014, neither of these requests had been granted. On 3 December 2014, Whiteway was arrested on suspicion of cheating

HMRC His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (commonly HM Revenue and Customs, or HMRC, and formerly Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) is a Departments of the United Kingdom Government, department of the UK government responsible for the tax collectio ...

in respect of VAT. On the same day, the brewery was searched, and a forklift truck was used by HMRC to remove equipment and stock. According to Whiteway, by 2014, both he and his wife were joint shareholders in the company, but presiding District Judge Elizabeth Roscoe was not convinced of this, asking to see evidence of "ownership and set-up", as promises of future payment "were often not fulfilled". In July 2017, London Fields Brewery was acquired by a joint venture between

Carlsberg Group Carlsberg A/S (; ) is a Danish multinational brewer. Founded in 1847 by J. C. Jacobsen, the company's headquarters is in Copenhagen, Denmark. Since Jacobsen's death in 1887, the majority owner of the company has been the Carlsberg Foundation. Th ...

and

Brooklyn Brewery Brooklyn Brewery is a brewery in Brooklyn, New York, United States. It was started in 1988 by Steve Hindy and Tom Potter. History Hindy learned to brew beer during a six-year stay in various Middle Eastern nations such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwai ...

for a reported £4m. On 7 December 2021, the brewery announced that it was closing down immediately with a view to selling the business. In May 2023, Grace Land Group acquired London Fields Brewery from Carlsberg.

References

External links

London Fields Brewery
at

OpenCorporates OpenCorporates is a website that shares data on corporations under the copyleft Open Database Licence, Open Database License. The company, OpenCorporates Ltd, was incorporated on 18 December 2010 by Chris Taggart and Rob McKinnon, and the websit ...

{{coords, 51.5387, -0.0580, display=title Food and drink companies established in 2011 British companies established in 2011 Breweries in London

History

See also

References

External links