Two local breweries hit problems as the national trend towards brewery closures continues
One of the longest established local independent breweries, White Horse, is due to be struck off the Companies House register by June 2 – potentially bringing an end to a name that has been a local fixture for 20 years. Meanwhile Wriggly Monkey announced its closure in early May, provoking a rush to enjoy one of its final barrels at the Grapes in Oxford.
Founder and head brewer of the Bicester-based Wriggly Monkey, Luke Roberts, signed off with a heartfelt message to give independent brewers more support in these troubled times – echoing a message the Oxford Drinker sends out regularly regarding both breweries and pubs.
“It is with great sadness that we must call time on Wriggly Monkey brewery. We would like to thank all of our customers, friends and followers for their support over the last 5½ years. It has been an incredible journey with amazing highs and our fair share of lows,” he wrote.
“Unfortunately, despite all the incredible efforts of our team, we cannot keep the pedal flat for any longer. The brewing industry and the wider hospitality sector has faced unprecedented cost increases and significant disruption over the last few years, that have challenged the brewery’s viability going forward.
“Times are tough out there and the pubs, bottle shops and small independent breweries really do need your support. We all need to leave those beers in the aisle at the supermarket and call around the local breweries, pubs and independent shops. Your support is key, and is always much appreciated by them all.”
The brewery, whose slogan was “beer engineered for petrol heads”, was part of the Bicester Heritage complex and took its name from Luke’s interest in classic cars – especially the 1920s sports car Frazer Nash.
White Horse, based at Stanford-in-the-Vale, near Faringdon, has a much longer pedigree. Founded in 2004 by Andy Wilson, who formerly worked at Wychwood brewery and managed Hobgoblin pubs including what is now St Aldates Tavern, it was named after the ancient chalk carving on a hillside nearby. Titanic brewery’s Keith Bott was a shareholder, and in 2008 White Horse sub-leased the Royal Blenheim pub in Oxford from Everards to showcase its beers. That sub-lease passed to Titanic a few years ago, but White Horse beers continued to feature strongly until early this year when they disappeared from the bar.
White Horse was taken over by a much smaller brewery in late 2022 but appears to have ceased production in January, and at the same time its Facebook page ceased to be updated. It had lost key staff including Anneli Baxter (who moved from Titanic) and head brewer Gavin Stanton, who both moved to Loose Cannon.
South Oxfordshire brewery (known as SOX) and its managing director, James Tomlinson, are listed as the only directors of White Horse, having acquired the shareholdings of Andy Wilson and Titanic. James did not respond to questions about being struck off by Companies House, but held out some hope it could re-open, saying: “After breakdowns on the kit several times we are awaiting the insurance company to hopefully sort everything out, as it’s quite costly! I….. hopefully will be able to share good news as we are planning on production the minute all is fixed.”
According to Companies House, there is an “active proposal to strike off” White Horse within two months of an official notice being published in The Gazette, which was on April 2. “The Registrar of Companies gives notice that, unless cause is shown to the contrary, the company will be struck off the register and dissolved not less than two months from the date shown here. Upon the company’s dissolution, all property and rights vested in, or held in trust for, the company are deemed to be bona vacantia, and will belong to the Crown.”
White Horse was one of the most successful local breweries getting its beers into pubs, especially White Horse Bitter and Village Idiot, and was regularly featured by Wetherspoons. It also produced a range of other cask ales including Black Beauty, Wayland Smithy and Dark Blue University Ale, while its Luna range of experimental beers won awards including joint third for Konic (with Wriggly Monkey’s Ambassador) at the 2023 Oxford Beer Festival.
Whether any of these beers see the light of day again remains to be seen, but SOX is still trading at its tap room in Ipsden, near Wallingford.
It’s all a far cry from when SOX took over White Horse in December 2022, when James Tomlinson said: “We are delighted to be adding the White Horse Brewery to our existing SOX brewing operation and taproom. It’s a business that makes superb, balanced beers and we’re really looking forward to working with the team there to get these fantastic liquids into the hands of more cask ale fans.”
Titanic director Keith Bott then added: “It has been an absolute pleasure to be part of the White Horse journey over the past 18 years. The team produce some superb ales and I know James and the team from South Oxfordshire Brewery will do a great job building the brand and bringing those beers to more drinkers. At a time when breweries are closing at an alarming rate, it’s a great comfort to see brewers and business owners coming together, committed to ensuring drinkers still have a wide range of quality drinks to choose from when they visit their local.”