CAMRA Campaigns

You Are Here: Main > Campaigns

Coors Close the Doors

Burton on Trent has been an important brewing town for the better part of a thousand years, and in recent centuries has had a massive influence on beer making around the globe, being dubbed the world's brewing capital. Now its heritage - shared by Britain as a whole - is under a new and immediate threat, and the help of everyone who cares about beer and British tradition is needed urgently.

In 1777 William Bass established a brewery in Burton upon Trent. Over the course of the next 150 years, through growth, acquisition and marketing, the brewery became a dominant force in both the British and world beer markets. It is famed for creating Britain's first registered trademark in 1876 - the distinctive Red Triangle - and was one of the original FT 30 companies when the London Stock Exchange established the listing in 1935. Their beer has appeared in paintings by Picasso and Manet, and has even been used in illustrations for Roald Dahl's "The Twits" and Kenneth Grahame's "The Wind in the Willows".

This rich history was captured in the Bass Museum of Brewing in 1977, which has become the top tourist attraction in Burton upon Trent, with around 200,000 visitors anually. It houses a unique collection of British brewing memorabilia and includes a traditional cooperage and micro brewery.

The decline in brewing over recent decades led to the sale of the Bass company to Belgian brewer InBev in 2000. InBev retained the rights to produce Bass ales, but sold the brewing capacity, and a license to brew Bass, to US based Coors Brewing Company. In 2003 the new owner changed the name of the Bass Museum to the Coors Visitor Centre, stating that the name change reflected the committment of the company to developing the attraction. A spokesman for the company said at the time that they are, "very much about preserving the history and the brewing heritage".

Despite this, earlier this year, Coors announced the closure of the museum from June 2008. They cite reasons of falling visitor numbers and difficulty justifying the cost of maintenance at a time when their profits are under pressure. By contrast, in their own home town of Golden, Colorado, the museum chronicling the 135 years of Coors' history - including the development of the aluminium beer can - is thriving following huge recent investment.

Following a massive adverse public reaction to the announcement, starting in Burton but now spreading across the world, Coors have promised not to sell the irreplaceable collection or the valuable shire horses stabled in the museum grounds until the end of the year, and have offered matched financial help to potential rescuers, but still intend to close the museum to the public in June.

Moves are underway to turn it into a National Musuem of Brewing, operated by a trust with charitable status and heritage funding, but this process needs months rather than weeks to succeed, and the laying off of museum staff would create serious additional obstacles and costs.

You can help in two ways:

Firstly, the local newspaper, the Burton Mail, has set up an online petition to stop the closure of the museum and the loss of part of our national heritage. The petition is asking the Government to grant charitable status to the museum and allow it to be funded independently of Coors. Please add your name.

Secondly, Coors need to be persuaded to delay the closure to allow a rescue plan to be put together. We need to remind Coors of the strength of feeling of this loss. Please email Coors' representative, John Polglass, at john.polglass@coorsbrewers.com or write him at Coors Brewers Ltd, 137 High Street, Burton-on-Trent, Staffs, DE14 1JZ.

Coors have been shaken by the strength of public opinion, and have already made some concessions. With enough support the campaign to save the museum can succeed.

Sign the Burton Mail's petition
Email Coors' representative

Honest Pint

Getting what you pay for is a basic consumer right. When ordering a pint of beer you should receive exactly that - a full pint. The reality is very different, and because of loopholes in the law over 8 out of 10 pints are short measure with consumers losing out to the tune of over £400 million each year

Despite repeated promises, the Government has failed to act on short beer measures. Under pressure from the pubs industry, the Government is now proposing to define a pint as “not less than 95% liquid”. CAMRA believes that this proposal will lead to the worsening of the current situation as it gives a green light to companies to short change consumers.

Sustainable Communities Act

It is a sad fact that in recent years many pubs, both in Solihull and across the country, have closed down or been demolished - far outstripping new openings. The Sustainable Communities Act which, with the support of CAMRA, became law in October 2007, works to save pubs and promote local brewers by:

Giving communities a legal right of first option to take over pubs in danger of closure
Giving councils powers to stop developers demolishing pubs to make way for 'development'
Requiring supermarkets to stock local beers
Boosting local shops and jobs, so increasing the viability of 'locals'
Allowing pub landlords to stock a guest beer

A guide to the act
More information about the act at www.localworks.org

Guest Beer Rights

The vast majority of pubs in the UK are tied to either a pub company or a brewer. This means they are often unable to stock beers from brewers of their choice. A guest beer right would allow these pubs the choice of stocking one cask conditioned beer of their choice. This would have the huge advantages of increasing consumer choice (helping pubs attract new customers, and supporting Britain’s small brewers by giving them access to market.