Courtesy / Marston’s Beer Co.
Shipyard Brewing Co. founder and CEO Fred Forsley, right, and Richard Westwood, Marston’s Beer Co. managing director
November 21, 2019
Shipyard Brewing extends joint marketing deal in UK
By Staff
Portland-based Shipyard Brewing Co. has extended a joint marketing and development deal with a British brewery.
The new multimillion-dollar agreement with Marston’s Beer Co. follows a previous 12-year contract and extends the relationship between the two companies until 2034, according to a news release Thursday.
Shipyard founder and CEO Fred Forsley visited Marston’s head office in Wolverhampton, England, to sign the new contract and develop plans for the next phase of the partnership. The collaboration builds on the growing popularity of U.S.-style craft beers in the United Kingdom.
In 2013, Marston's began brewing Shipyard American Pale Ale for the UK. Since then, the brew has become that market's biggest-selling craft keg beer.
In June, Marston’s launched Low Tide, Shipyard’s first low-alcohol beer, into the UK. Marston's also distributes several other Shipyard products there.
“This new commitment is a fantastic news, a dream come true for Shipyard in that we continue to work with a business which has become our extended family,” Forsley said in the release. “Walking into pubs and seeing our beers on the bar or in supermarkets in the UK is a huge buzz.
"Marston’s is a great business partner and our relationship runs very deep. Our long-term plans are exciting and we are both looking long into the future which allows us to focus on the beer and not on contract durations.”
Richard Westwood, Marston’s managing director, added: “Marston’s and Shipyard has been a real success story for UK brewing industry and is a real testament to the uniquely close relationship we have developed and the trust we have built between our businesses.”
Shipyard's UK connection actually dates to the company's founding in the 1990s, when Forsley teamed up with Alan Pugsley, who learned to brew under Peter Austin at Ringwood Brewery in Hampshire, England. Forsley and Pugsley started Federal Jack’s Restaurant & Brew Pub in 1992, in Kennebunkport Harbor, then opened Shipyard Brewing Co. in Portland in 1994.
Ringwood joined Marston’s Beer Co. in 2007.
A 2013 news release noted that the emergence of “new world” craft beer represented a profitable opportunity to build on the success of established “old world” specialty beers of Belgium, Germany and the Czech Republic.
Shipyard is Maine’s largest brewer, with an expected global output of 160,000 barrels in 2019. This past April, Forsley told Mainebiz he’d like to see the company continue to grow globally with Shipyard brands.
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