Exclusive – St Peter’s Brewery acquires Curious Brewery and Wild Beer Co: One of the UK's first craft brewers, the Suffolk-based St Peter's has acquired the Curious Brewery and Wild Beer Co businesses, for an undisclosed sum, Propel has learned. In spring 2021, Risk Capital Partners, Luke Johnson’s private equity firm, acquired Curious Brewery from English wine company Chapel Down. Based in Kent, Curious was established in 2011 by Chapel Down and offered four core brews: a lager, a session IPA, a cider and a porter. The change of ownership followed a multimillion-pound development of a new brewery in 2019. Located in Ashford, it was constructed alongside a visitor centre and a 120-cover bar and restaurant. In April the same year, Risk appointed Mark Crowther, former chief executive of Channel Islands and West Country-based brewer and retailer Liberation Group, and Simon George, former UK head of Budweiser Budvar, as chairman and managing director of Curious, respectively. George left the business last summer. Earlier this year, the business acquired the brands of Wild Beer Co, the Somerset brewer, out of administration. The deal with Curious involved the beer brands and intellectual property of Wild Beer Co but excluded the craft brewery and production facilities in Somerset. St Peter's was acquired by a group of private individuals for an undisclosed sum at the start of 2021. St Peter’s was founded in Suffolk by John Murphy, who developed and ran the business for 23 years. The company is currently led by chief executive Derek Jones, who has more than 20 years of global beer experience, including at Molson Coors and SABMiller.

Palmers appoints new CEO: Dorset family-run brewery and pub company Palmers has appointed Emily Palmer as chief executive. She succeeds fer father John, who has been chairman and managing director for the past 40 years. Emily has been on the board since 2015 and an executive director since 2020. Before joining Palmers, Emily worked in strategy and corporate development for Rothschild & Co, delivering strategic projects for the group, and prior to that in mergers and acquisitions, helping to advise on the sale and purchase of a number of consumer and retail businesses including Sipsmith and Farrow & Ball. After 54 years with Palmers, John is continuing as executive chairman. He said: “Having recently entered into an agreement to purchase all the shares and return Palmers to a solely owned family business, it is a real pleasure to work alongside Emily as the next generation. Emily has been instrumental in the business over the last three years and this is very much the natural next step.” Palmers operates 53 pubs in Dorset, Somerset and Devon and has been trading since 1794. Palmers features in the Propel Turnover & Profits Blue Book, the next edition of which will be released to Premium subscribers next Friday (13 October). Palmers turned over £9,736,675 for the year ending 31 March 2023, which is the 523rd highest in the database. The Blue Book ranks companies by turnover, profit and profit conversion, listing directors’ earnings for the past five years. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Propel Premium for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or a supplier. The single subscription rate is £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Email jo.charity@propelinfo.com to upgrade your subscription.