Battle · 6 companies
Family brewers
Centuries in the business. Who still brews a profit?
St Austell leads on turnover and net assets; Hall & Woodhouse on pre-tax profit and growth; Harvey's on profit margin. St Austell is the biggest by turnover at £234m, against £131m at Hall & Woodhouse. Harvey's keeps the most of every £100 it takes, £14.86 as pre-tax profit.
The year ends are close enough to compare like for like. Hall & Woodhouse, St Austell and Harvey's file group accounts that include subsidiaries; Thwaites, Adnams and Timothy Taylor file for a single company, which flatters the groups on size.
Accounts compared: Hall & Woodhouse to Jan 2026 · St Austell to Dec 2025 · Thwaites to Aug 2025 · Adnams to Dec 2025 · Timothy Taylor to Sep 2025 · Harvey's to Dec 2025
The Numbers
| # | Company | Turnover | Change | Pre-tax profit | Margin | Employees | Pay per head | Turnover per head | Net assets | Bank and cash | Accounts to | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St AustellSt.austell Brewery Company Limited | £234m | +1.2% | £3m | 1.4% | 1,884 | £31,000 | £124,000 | £147m | £7m | Dec 2025 | Group |
| 2 | Hall & WoodhouseHall & Woodhouse Limited | £131m | +6.7% | £11m | 8.2% | 1,663 | £26,000 | £79,000 | £143m | £1.1m | Jan 2026 | Group |
| 3 | ThwaitesThwaites Limited | £85m | +6.2% | £6m | 7.1% | 282 | n/d | £300,000 | £38m | £7m | Aug 2025 | Single company |
| 4 | AdnamsAdnams PLC | £64m | -6.4% | -£0.7m | -1.2% | 566 | £28,000 | £113,000 | £19m | £0.3m | Dec 2025 | Single company |
| 5 | Timothy TaylorTimothy Taylor & Co.limited | £36m | +2.2% | £3m | 8.4% | 156 | £51,000 | £229,000 | £35m | £7m | Sep 2025 | Single company |
| 6 | Harvey'sHarvey & Son (Lewes) Limited | £25m | +0.5% | £4m | 14.9% | 210 | £33,000 | £120,000 | £53m | £8m | Dec 2025 | Group |
Ranked by turnover. Click any column to sort. The leader on each measure is highlighted. Movements are against each company's own prior year. Pre-tax profit is filed except where marked (est.).
Category winners
Biggest by turnover
St Austell
£234m
Most pre-tax profit
Hall & Woodhouse
£11m
Highest profit margin
Harvey's
14.9%
Fastest-growing turnover
Hall & Woodhouse
+6.7%
Biggest employer
St Austell
1,884 staff
Highest pay per head
Timothy Taylor
£51,000
Most turnover per head
Thwaites
£300,000
Largest net assets
St Austell
£147m
Most cash
Harvey's
£8m
The Takeaway
- Harvey's converts the most of its turnover. Of every £100, £14.86 reaches pre-tax profit, against a loss of £1.17 at Adnams.
- St Austell is the largest on the top line, £234m of turnover, 1.8x Hall & Woodhouse's £131m.
- Hall & Woodhouse is growing fastest, turnover +6.7% on its own prior year. Adnams went backwards.
- St Austell is the biggest employer with 1,884 people; Timothy Taylor pays the most per head, an average staff cost of about £51,000.
- St Austell has the largest balance sheet, net assets of £147m, while Harvey's holds the most cash at £8m.
Who keeps the most of every £100 of sales?
Harvey's keeps the most: £14.86 of every £100 of turnover becomes pre-tax profit. Adnams does worst, losing £1.17.
Financing bites hardest at St Austell: £2.59 of every £100 goes on interest.
Every profit figure here is the one the company filed.
The chart splits each company's turnover into £100: what goes on people, on interest and on everything else, and what is left as profit.
Out of every £100 of turnover
Each column is £100 of that company's own turnover, so companies of any size compare on one scale; the figures are pounds out of each £100, not millions. Companies run from the best margin to the worst. Payroll is staff costs, financing is interest paid, other running costs are everything else, and profit is pre-tax profit, filed or estimated as marked in the table. A loss is not an extra cost: it is the part of the costs that runs past the £100 line, marked with a red bracket. Hover over any segment for its figure.
Who is the biggest, and does the comparison hold?
By turnover the order is St Austell (£234m), Hall & Woodhouse (£131m), Thwaites (£85m), Adnams (£64m), Timothy Taylor (£36m), Harvey's (£25m).
By headcount, St Austell leads with 1,884 employees.
The accounting periods all end within 5 months of each other. The bases differ: group accounts include the businesses a company owns, single-company accounts do not.
Turnover on the latest filing
Who is growing fastest?
Hall & Woodhouse grew fastest, turnover +6.7% on its own prior year, ahead of Thwaites (+6.2%), Timothy Taylor (+2.2%), St Austell (+1.2%), Harvey's (+0.5%), Adnams (-6.4%).
Turnover change on each company's own prior year
Who employs the most, who pays the most, and who brings in the most per head?
St Austell employs the most, 1,884 people, against 1,663 at Hall & Woodhouse.
Timothy Taylor has the highest average staff cost, about £51,000 a head; Hall & Woodhouse the lowest, about £26,000.
Thwaites brings in the most turnover per employee, about £300,000, against £79,000 at Hall & Woodhouse. It says as much about the business model as the workforce: a marketplace or a wholesaler needs far fewer people per pound than a restaurant or a gym.
Hall & Woodhouse
1,663
employees, about £26,000 pay a head, £79,000 turnover a head, -5.0% on the year
St Austell
1,884
employees, about £31,000 pay a head, £124,000 turnover a head, +1.7% on the year
Thwaites
282
employees, £300,000 turnover a head, +1.4% on the year
Adnams
566
employees, about £28,000 pay a head, £113,000 turnover a head, -0.5% on the year
Timothy Taylor
156
employees, about £51,000 pay a head, £229,000 turnover a head, +6.1% on the year
Harvey's
210
employees, about £33,000 pay a head, £120,000 turnover a head, +1.0% on the year
Who owns each one?
Ownership as recorded on the Companies House register of people with significant control, in the bands the register uses.
No controller recorded
The register shows no person with significant control. 18 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns Hall & Woodhouse →
St.austell Brewery Company Limited · 00107021No controller recorded
The register shows no person with significant control. 5 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns St Austell →
Thwaites Limited · 00387579Held by Lord Michael Dulverton
An individual recorded as a person with significant control. 2 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns Thwaites →
Adnams PLC · 00031114No controller recorded
The register shows no person with significant control. 6 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns Adnams →
Timothy Taylor & Co.limited · 00243794No controller recorded
The register shows no person with significant control.
Who owns Timothy Taylor →
Harvey & Son (Lewes) Limited · 00235093Held by Mrs Adele Mackenzie Smith
An individual recorded as a person with significant control.
Who owns Harvey's →
What does the full ledger show?
| Measure | Hall & Woodhouse | St Austell | Thwaites | Adnams | Timothy Taylor | Harvey's |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Registered name | HALL & WOODHOUSE LIMITED | ST.AUSTELL BREWERY COMPANY LIMITED | THWAITES LIMITED | ADNAMS PLC | TIMOTHY TAYLOR & CO.LIMITED | HARVEY & SON (LEWES) LIMITED |
| Company number | 00057696 | 00107021 | 00387579 | 00031114 | 00243794 | 00235093 |
| Incorporated | 1898 | 1910 | 1944 | 1890 | 1929 | 1928 |
| Accounts filed | 8 September 2026 | 25 June 2026 | 16 May 2026 | 27 June 2026 | 10 June 2026 | 15 July 2026 |
| Turnover, prior year | £123m | £231m | £80m | £68m | £35m | £25m |
| Pre-tax profit, prior year | £6m | £11m | £6m | -£3m | £3m | £4m |
| Staff costs | £43m | £58m | n/d | £16m | £8m | £7m |
| Payroll share of turnover | 33.0% | 24.6% | n/d | 25.0% | 22.2% | 27.8% |
| Employees, prior year | 1,750 | 1,852 | 278 | 569 | 147 | 208 |
| Dividends paid | £2m | £3m | £4m | n/d | £1.0m | £0.8m |
| Charges outstanding | 18 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d; a zero in a filing is treated as not disclosed. Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, above that to the nearest million.
Family brewers: common questions
Who is the biggest of Hall & Woodhouse, St Austell, Thwaites, Adnams, Timothy Taylor or Harvey's?
St Austell, with turnover of £234m in the year to December 2025.
Which makes the most profit?
Hall & Woodhouse: £11m pre-tax in the year to January 2026.
Which employs the most people?
St Austell, with 1,884 employees in its latest accounts.
Hall & Woodhouse or St Austell: which is bigger?
St Austell, with turnover of £234m against £131m at Hall & Woodhouse on their latest filings. On margin, Hall & Woodhouse keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Hall & Woodhouse or Thwaites: which is bigger?
Hall & Woodhouse, with turnover of £131m against £85m at Thwaites on their latest filings. On margin, Hall & Woodhouse keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Hall & Woodhouse or Adnams: which is bigger?
Hall & Woodhouse, with turnover of £131m against £64m at Adnams on their latest filings. On margin, Hall & Woodhouse keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Hall & Woodhouse or Timothy Taylor: which is bigger?
Hall & Woodhouse, with turnover of £131m against £36m at Timothy Taylor on their latest filings. On margin, Timothy Taylor keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Hall & Woodhouse or Harvey's: which is bigger?
Hall & Woodhouse, with turnover of £131m against £25m at Harvey's on their latest filings. On margin, Harvey's keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
St Austell or Thwaites: which is bigger?
St Austell, with turnover of £234m against £85m at Thwaites on their latest filings. On margin, Thwaites keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
St Austell or Adnams: which is bigger?
St Austell, with turnover of £234m against £64m at Adnams on their latest filings. On margin, St Austell keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
St Austell or Timothy Taylor: which is bigger?
St Austell, with turnover of £234m against £36m at Timothy Taylor on their latest filings. On margin, Timothy Taylor keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
St Austell or Harvey's: which is bigger?
St Austell, with turnover of £234m against £25m at Harvey's on their latest filings. On margin, Harvey's keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Thwaites or Adnams: which is bigger?
Thwaites, with turnover of £85m against £64m at Adnams on their latest filings. On margin, Thwaites keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Thwaites or Timothy Taylor: which is bigger?
Thwaites, with turnover of £85m against £36m at Timothy Taylor on their latest filings. On margin, Timothy Taylor keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Thwaites or Harvey's: which is bigger?
Thwaites, with turnover of £85m against £25m at Harvey's on their latest filings. On margin, Harvey's keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Adnams or Timothy Taylor: which is bigger?
Adnams, with turnover of £64m against £36m at Timothy Taylor on their latest filings. On margin, Timothy Taylor keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Adnams or Harvey's: which is bigger?
Adnams, with turnover of £64m against £25m at Harvey's on their latest filings. On margin, Harvey's keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Timothy Taylor or Harvey's: which is bigger?
Timothy Taylor, with turnover of £36m against £25m at Harvey's on their latest filings. On margin, Harvey's keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Where do these figures come from?
Each company's latest accounts filed at Companies House. Each links to its full Spark Intel profile, which names the filing it comes from.
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