Moving with the times 05-03-01

Beamish & Crawford doesn't have an actual fleet of its own. But Distribution Manager Andrew O'Neill runs a tight ship, contracting out all the company's transport/distribution and ensuring that the pristine Beamish & Crawford image is reflected through a trusty team of sub contractors.

Andrew O'Neill is Distribution Manager with Beamish & Crawford, with responsibility for all the brewery's warehousing and transport. All the transport/distribution has been contracted out since 1994, Beamish & Crawford working in conjunction with some of the most reliable hauliers in the country.

Headquartered at South Main Street in Cork city, Beamish & Crawford has been registered as Master Brewers since 1792. Its main brands are Beamish stout, Carling lager, Miller Genuine Draft, Foster's lager, Scrumpy Jack cider and Kronenbourg lager.

Beamish & Crawford came to be when William Beamish and William Crawford formed a partnership to purchase an old brewery in Cramer's Lane, Cork. Under the agreement, the new company - known as The Cork Porter Brewery - started brewing on a site where brewing had been carried out since before 1650 and possibly as far back as 1500.

In his 1889 book on the Noted Breweries of Great Britain & Ireland, Alfred Barnard said: "The business of Beamish & Crawford in Cork is a very old one dating as far back as the seventeenth century and it is said to be the most ancient porter brewery in Ireland."

The home of the brewery at South Main Street lies at the heart of what was the medieval city. Originally, one of the old city gates stood nearby as did the Cork jail. A stone from the jail upon which the severed heads of the executed were once displayed now stands outside the brewery's counting house door. The huge lock on the door also comes from the jail.
In 1865, the brewery was completely rebuilt and modernised at a cost of £100,000. In 1901, the company went public with a share capital of £480,000 and the company continued to grow in the early 'nineties by taking over a number of smaller local breweries.

In 1962, the entire share capital of the company was purchased by Canadian brewer Carling O'Keefe and the following years saw significant investment.

A modernisation programme commenced in 1963 and this was carefully carried out so that the Elizabethan style and character of the South Main Street premises was retained.

In 1964, the brewing of Carling Black Label lager commenced, followed by Bass from 1968 and Carlsberg from 1973.
In 1987, Elders IXL (now Foster's Brewing Group) purchased Canadian Breweries which included Beamish & Crawford. Shortly afterwards, brewing of Foster's draught commenced at the plant.

Beamish & Crawford was acquired by Scottish & Newcastle plc (the largest brewer in the UK) in 1995. Scottish & Newcastle has an extensive portfolio of brands including Newcastle Brown Ale, McEwan's, Theakston's, John Smith's and Foster's. Both through its businesses in the UK and internationally, Beamish Stout - brewed exclusively in Cork - is now being exported to over 30 countries worldwide.

In 1996, Beamish & Crawford was appointed franchisee for Miller Genuine Draft by the Miller Brewing Company of Milwaukee, USA. In March 1997, Miller Genuine Draft, brewed at Beamish & Crawford in Cork, was launched in Ireland on draft and it is currently the fastest growing main stream lager on the Irish market.

In addition to its South Main Street headquarters, Beamish & Crawford has three substantial warehousing facilities - 58,000 square feet in Cork, 30,000 sq. ft. in Dublin and 18,000 sq. ft. in Limerick. All the transport is contracted out.
There are two main contractors in Cork: S Transport does all the depot work (involving kegs, specialised trailers, return loads etc) and Lucey Transport handles all wholesale journeys (one-trip operations involving packaged beer in bottles and cans). Meanwhile, Trux Transport handles local deliveries to pubs and shops etc.

CDM Limited (Coakley Distribution Management) is Beamish & Crawford's secondary distribution contractor in Dublin. The company is headed by a former Beamish employee who was depot manager in Dublin and then went out on his own when B&C began to contract out its distribution. Pat O'Donovan in Limerick also exploited the opportunities that arose from Beamish contracting out in 1994. Pat was the Beamish & Crawford depot manager in Limerick before taking the contract over himself.
Although there is no specific Beamish & Crawford fleet as such, all the vehicles carrying the company's produce contain full Beamish & Crawford livery.

As well as all the above, Beamish & Crawford also has an agent in the south east - South East Beer Ltd. (Donoghues Wholesalers) in Waterford and Enniscorthy. Several hauliers of note call to main warehouse at the Marina on a regular basis for collections including the very successful family run Mulgrew Transport from Belfast .

All the draught produce is brewed and kegged on site in South Main Street (except the Scrumpy Jack which comes in from the UK in bulk). Beamish remains the brewery's biggest brand but Miller Genuine Draft is rapidly catching up, currently growing at a remarkable rate of 3.4% per annum.

Indeed, this is reflective of a general growth within the company as a whole. Beamish & Crawford is very much a growth company - hardly surprising considering its obvious determination to move with the times. 90% of the packaged products are imported from the UK . . . the Miller bottles come in from the US.

Contacts: phone 021 911100; fax 021 911111; website beamish.ie; email info@beamish.ie

Playing their part
Lucey Transport Ltd is a family owned, professionally managed National Transport company with over 40 years experience in distribution/logistics.

From their depots at Dublin, Cork, Clonmel and Millstreet they operate a fleet of thirty ultra modern artic trucks with an average of three trailers per vehicle.

Their drivers, service crews and management personnel have been trained in all aspects of customer care and Lucey Transport fully appreciate the importance of getting it right, first time, every time.

Their existing customers are amongst the foremost food and drink manufacturers in Ireland and their understanding and implementation of the highest quality standards ensures that your product will be delivered in first class condition at the specified time.

In 1998, Beamish & Crawford awarded Lucey Transport the National Distribution contract for Miller packaged beer. This highly successful partnership has seen volumes grow at a tremendous rate, so much so, they have just purchased three new artic trucks to keep pace with demand.

Lucey Transport take this opportunity to wish Beamish & Crawford ever success with their new joint venture with M/S Showerings and they are delighted to confirm their purchase of three new artic vehicles to cater for this substantial new contract.