Carlsberg’s business in the UK dates back to the early 1970s when we acquired the site of the old Phipps brewery in Northampton in partnership with Watney’s. In 1974, we opened a new brewery on the site, built at a cost of £15m – a fortune in those days.

Millions of barrels rolled out of the brewery’s gates before, in November 1991, it was announced that Carlsberg A/S – the parent company of the Carlsberg Group and the world’s fifth largest brewer – was merging with Allied-Lyons plc. In December 1992, the UK business became Carlsberg-Tetley, named after the merged companies’ best-known brands. Carlsberg A/S took 100% ownership of the business in 1997.

Today, Carlsberg UK is the country’s fourth largest brewer. To put that into perspective, we have 13% of the UK beer market, operate two breweries and 15 distribution depots and employ just over 2,000 people. These days, though, we are more than just a brewer. Carlsberg UK is a large, diverse business that puts the customer at the heart of everything. We supply some of Britain’s best-loved beer brands to the wholesale and free trade markets, as well as being one of the leading distributors to some of the largest retail pub companies in the UK.

“Innovation is essential to everything we do – so we can be first at everything we do.”
David Caffrey, International Brand Manager

We remain part of Carlsberg A/S, which has 75 breweries worldwide and over 40,000 employees. So people who join us enjoy the best of both worlds: the family atmosphere of a small company and the backing of a major global group.

Finally, as one of the world’s most high-profile brands we believe in giving something back to the community. And staying true to our Danish roots, more than half our profits are ploughed back into Danish science, arts, culture and society through the Carlsberg Foundation.