Greene King

The brewery was founded by Benjamin Greene in Bury St. Edmunds in 1799. In Richard Wilson's biographical analysis of the Greene family, he credits various family members for being able to achieve distinction in the worlds of business and banking, literature (Graham Greene, for example) and broadcasting in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.'

In 1836 Edward Greene took over the business and in 1887 it merged with Frederick William King's brewing business to create Greene King.

Greene King has grown via mergers and acquisitions, including Rayments Brewery (1961), the Magic Pub Company (1996), Hungry Horse (1996), Morland Brewery (1999), Old English Inns (2001), Morrells (2002), a large part of the Laurel Pub Company (2004), Ridley's Brewery (2005), Belhaven Brewery (2005), Hardys and Hansons (2006), the Loch Fyne fish restaurant chain (2007), Cloverleaf (2011), Realpubs (2011), the Capital Pub Company (2011) and the Spirit Pub Company (2015).

The Spirit acquisition, where Greene King bought Spirit for £773.6m, took the total number of Greene King sites to 3,116, brought 14 brands together and made Greene King the largest managed pub company in the UK. It was completed on 23 June 2015.

It was announced in November 2018 that Rooney Anand would be stepping down from his role as CEO after 14 years in the position.

In 2019 the Hong Kong based CK Assets announced the proposed take over of Greene King, which shareholders had to approve. According to the Financial Times, the holding company took the view that the pubs owned by Greene King are an asset that is safe from potential recession. Analyst David Blennerhassett told the FT that CK Assets has a track record of buying such assets in the UK and he does not expect it to sell Greene King later as a bet on the falling pound. The takeover was approved by the High Court in October 2019.

In March 2026, Greene King announced plans to sell 150 pubs to focus on its core portfolio.

The Greene King brewery in Bury St Edmunds produces beers branded in the names of breweries now closed, including Morland (Old Speckled Hen), Ruddles, Hardys & Hanson Kimberley Ale and Tolly Cobbold. The Belhaven Brewery in Dunbar continues to operate in Scotland.

The group operates 3,100 pubs, restaurants and hotels:

Its retail division is split between its destination pubs and restaurants (with brands including Hungry Horse, Loch Fyne, Taylor Walker and Metropolitan Pub Company) and its local pubs. Its strategy is to open further retail outlets.

Its pub partners division has leased, tenanted and franchised pubs. Its strategy is to reduce the numbers of these outlets.

Criticism

Greene King's ongoing business expansion has sometimes been the subject of criticism. As a result of its active acquisition policy, it has come to be known by beer protesters as "Greedy King". The growing consumer reaction to Greene King buying out smaller breweries was demonstrated towards the end of 2006 when a pub in Lewes, East Sussex started a well-publicised protest against Greene King for removing the locally produced Harvey's Sussex Best Bitter from sale, while continuing to sell other guest beers.

In January 2014, the Lass O'Gowrie, which had been named "Best Pub in Britain" at the Great British Pub Awards in 2012, closed following a dispute over rent that led to the landlord's departure. The landlord had reported losing around 40% of trade after the BBC relocated to MediaCityUK and had secured a rent reduction at an independent tribunal before leaving the business after a disagreement with the brewery.

Greene King has also been criticised for removing many traditional and historic pub signs as part of rebranding schemes.

In 2021, residents of Linlithgow launched a petition aimed at preventing Greene King from changing the name of "The Black Bitch" pub to "The Black Hound". The term "black bitches" is traditionally used for natives of the town, and an image of a black bitch (a female dog) appears on the town's coat of arms. Greene King argued that the name "The Black Bitch" had "racist and offensive connotations".

On 27 January 2024, the Caribbean nation of St Kitts and Nevis announced plans to seek slavery reparations from Greene King, due to its founder Benjamin Greene's historical ownership of 231 enslaved people in St Kitts. Talks have been scheduled between St Kitts and Nevis officials and Greene King.