Each department of Hall & Woodhouse plays its role in achieving the overall vision of building a growing independent family company. Before you browse our pubs to rent and join the family, find out more about who we are and what makes us the pub company of choice.
Charles Hall, a Dorset farmer, founded a brewery in the Dorset village of Ansty to provide beer to General Clinton’s troops who were stationed on the south coast before being shipped to America to fight the pesky Colonialists.
Charles Hall’s son, Robert Hall died and rather than lease his share to his Brother Charles’ family who were apathetic towards brewing, he left it to his partner Edward Woodhouse, who became sole owner.
Edward Woodhouse expanded the business considerably by buying public houses; thereby adding profitable outlets for is beer. When he died his sons, George, Edward and Alfred took over the brewery as partners. The Badger was first used as a trade mark in this year.
Harold Woodhouse (grandfather of Mark and David) died during a bombing raid on Blandford camp. H&W was again supplying troops, this time Americans who were based in Dorset ahead of the Nomandy Invasion in 1944.
Sunparlour Soft Drinks established to manufacture carbonated drinks. The company was named after a winning racehorse owned by John Woodhouse’s wife.
Jock Woodhouse joined the company full time and took over the soft drinks operation, overseeing major expansion of the factory including launching a new brand, Panda Pops. Panda Pops were produced in small glass bottles and many generations grew up with colourful, fun, fizzy drinks.
The first high speed canning line was installed, capable of filling 100 cans per minute. This was required to keep up with the demand for Badger and Skona in the take-home market. After a period of expansion in production and consolidation in the pub estate, the 80’s saw the start of a major pub acquisition programme.
With the growing popularity of lager, the company sought a continental bier to brew under license. The brewery that owned the biggest pub in the world, the Hofbrauhaus in Munich was an obvious choice. The license to brew Hofbrau in the UK was signed by the first non-family Managing Director, David Hart.
The 5th generation of Woodhouse’s, David and Mark joined the Board.
Horsham brewer, King and Barnes, was acquired along with its 55 tenanted houses in Sussex. The estate increased to 250 houses, one hundred managed, the remainder tenanted. David Woodhouse took over as Managing Director and David Hart became chairman.
A new dual purpose bottling and canning line was installed. Also the racking cellar was relocated with new equipment at a total cost of £1.5 million.
The Panda brand was sold to Vimto producers J N Nichols. The new Badger wins double gold at the Brewing Industry International Awards. The Tesco Beer Challenge is won for a record third time. The Badger Sett captures leading regional brewer position in take home market.
David Woodhouse dies, Anthony and Mark take over as joint Managing Directors.
Lord Rockley, Chairman for 9 years, is succeeded by Mark Woodhouse. Anthony takes over as sole Managing Director. The traditional tenancy agreement is replaced by a market leading Business Partner Agreement. The 49th running of the Badger Chase, the second oldest sponsored race, was won by Meanus Dandy owned by Mark & Theresa Woodhouse.
Work started on a new brewery with a capacity to produce 150,000 hectolitres at a cost of £5m. Consumer Goods Professionals cement Take home’s position as the leading independent family brewer in the supermarket trade.
We are now stewarded by the seventh and eighth generations of the Woodhouse family, with Anthony Woodhouse as Chairman, Mark Woodhouse as Family Director, and Matt Woodhouse as a Regional Manager. We’re proud to be a leading independent regional brewer in the South of England, with a beautiful, established pub estate of 54 Managed Houses and 109 Business Partnerships.
Hall & Woodhouse is a values-led business. Our values were established by exploring the things we are proud of and our successes both in the past and the present. There are certain common threads, common values underpinning them. It is important to recognise that these are not new, not plucked out of thin air because they sounded good, but are rooted in our past, active in our present and will drive our success in the future.
“Whenever I have to make a decision I try to hold it up to our values and ask ‘does it fit with them?”
Mark Woodhouse (Chairman, 2010)
“Without ambition one starts nothing. We strive to help our Business Partners run the best pubs possible.
Once we set our minds to achieve something we will do it as well as it can be done – with pride and passion. We are uncompromisingly dedicated to the quality of our beer and our pubs.
Integrity marks out our path ahead. We will always strive to do the right thing, be honest and open and stick to our word.
Kindness is at the heart of hospitality, combining compassion and generosity.
The bedrock of our success is teamwork. Working collaboratively with others in order to achieve our goals is crucial to our business.
Want to know more about our award winning Badger beer? Meet Toby, our Head Brewer who explains how Badger beer remains the golden thread that runs throughout our business.
Interested in our Managed pub estate? Take a look around the Duchess of Cornwall Inn. In 2016 her doors were opened by Her Majesty the Queen, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall.
In 2017, we invited our Business Partners to attend a day at Cowdray Polo Racecourse. We were treated to a picnic lunch from our food solution suppliers, Brakes Bros, and commentary from two of the industry’s best commentators.
Ian joined H&W in January 2019, with extensive experience in the pub and hospitality industry over the last 25 years. Ian’s area covers the coastal strip from Poole and Wimborne in Dorset, through Hampshire, to Worthing in W.Sussex. Ian’s industry experience includes working as an Area Manager for Whitbread Inns and Punch, and running his own small pub company with a colleague.
Foggy has left and returned to H&W 3 times now! He first joined in 2001 as a Business Partner, and has been involved in our Managed estate as a Regional Manager and most recently as ‘Head of Country Pubs’. Foggy has extensive experience in the pub, leisure and hospitality industries, having previously worked with Bass, Whitbread, Allied and Top Rank. His area covers predominantly W.Sussex.
Scott joined H&W as GM of The Smugglers Inn, Weymouth in 2010, and has since run several large H&W managed pubs and been a Regional Manager for the South West. Scott has a wealth of experience in the hospitality industry, spanning over 30 years; working his way up from washing pots, to studying hospitality management, working in the casual dining sector and running his own hotel and pub business.
Kirdford, Billingshurst, West Sussex RH14 0ND
Facilities
Bleke Street, Shaftesbury, Dorset SP7 8JZ
Facilities
Cranborne, Wimborne, Dorset, BH21 5PP
Facilities
