Sunday 16 October 2016

So. Farewell then SABMiller.

The world's second biggest brewery has now been taken over by the world's biggest brewery. Their main office is (or should that be was?) in my home town of Woking so I've taken a few pictures.

Now you see it

Now you don't


At the Capgemini building next door to what was SABMiller house the signs have been rebranded with Asahi stickers:


Apparently SABMiller staff are/were in five office blocks in town. As Asahi have taken over Miller Brands some people will be keeping their jobs, but most will be losing them. It's this point I find a lot more troubling than ownership of beer brands I don't drink. Certainly Group Technical will be closing down, and with it brewing science will be diminished.

3 comments:

  1. There’s always a human cost involved with these takeovers and mergers. I should know as I’ve been on the receiving end of a few in the past!

    Bad news as well about the disbandment of the Technical Group. Years of experience flushed down the drain, just to save a few bucks. Again, I’ve unfortunately seen it all before.

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  2. Yes, the human cost doesn't seem to factor in the share price.

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  3. Look on the bright side - local microbreweries will be gaining people who know what they're doing on the tech side. Past history suggests that the break-up of big companies usually has massive benefits to the small companies in the vicinity.

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