The closure of five Adnams' shops marks a sobering moment for a brewery that has long seen itself as part of the region’s everyday street life as much as its pub culture.
The Southwold brewery announced recently that it would close its Hadleigh store, leaving seven remaining shops. But what is its history?
Beer has been brewed on the same corner of Southwold for centuries, with records of an “ale wife” serving beer there in the 14th century, when the town was a busy North Sea port.
The modern Adnams story begins in 1872, when brothers George and Ernest Adnams bought the Sole Bay Brewery, laying the foundations for a family-owned company that still trades on its seaside home today.
By 1890 the business had been incorporated as Adnams & Co, and over the following decades its beers became fixtures across East Anglian pubs, not least after the Second World War when the brewery developed its own distinctive yeast following the destruction of a supplier in a Norwich air raid.
From the late 20th century onwards, Adnams’ focus broadened beyond cask ale and tied houses.
The first Adnams store opened in 1987 at the back of Southwold’s Crown Hotel, mixing wines and kitchenware and paving the way for a retail estate that spread through Suffolk and Norfolk market towns.
The company invested heavily in sustainability, building an eco-minded distribution centre at Reydon and brewing what it billed as the UK’s first carbon-neutral beer, East Green, as it sought to marry heritage with a greener future.
This week's shop closures, following financial pressures and the sale of non-core assets, inevitably feel like the end of a chapter for high streets that have hosted the familiar blue branding for years.
But Adnams still brews in Southwold, remains independent, and continues to stake its future on the same coastline that first shaped its character, suggesting that while store fronts may change, its East Anglian story is far from over.
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