Runcorn Brewery: The Unofficial History of a Corporate Disaster

Built by Bass Charrington, Britain's pre-eminent brewery in the 1960s and 1970s, Runcorn was conceived as becoming western Europe's largest brewery. Even before it opened in 1974, however, Runcorn was struck with paralysing labour disruptions, technological problems, and managerial miscalculations that would plague its history until its closure until 1991. What gave Runcorn broader significance was its role in reflecting the pervasive, but misplaced, assumptions about a new corporate culture, new technologies, the emergence of national brands, and advertising as a vehicle for replacing local consumer tastes with national markets. Oral history interviews, local newspaper accounts, the brewing industry's newspapers, and the brewery's in-house magazine afford insights into Runcorn's unwritten history.