Greene King runs pubs, restaurants and inns, including Chef & Brewer, Hungry Horse and Farmhouse Inns. It also brews beer in Bury St Edmunds and Scotland.
This scheme has endedGreene King was taken private in October 2019. The shareholder vouchers are no longer offered.
History of the perk
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Greene King taken private
CK Asset’s acquisition took effect on 30 October 2019. Greene King became a private limited company the following day.
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Monthly vouchers with five uses
By 2019 the booklet contained one voucher for each month from September to August. Each gave 25% off food and drink on up to five visits.
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A July qualifying date
By 2018 shareholders needed to hold at least 100 shares on 31 July to receive that year’s booklet.
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Vouchers for holders of 100 shares
Greene King offered holders of at least 100 shares a voucher booklet for its retail pubs and restaurants in 2015. Holders in nominee accounts had to request their booklets through the nominee.
Company story
A perk for pub-goers
Edward Sheldon praised Greene King’s vouchers for regular pub-goers in The Motley Fool in January 2019. Sheldon disclosed that he owned Greene King shares.
Benjamin Greene’s brewery
Greene King dates its beginnings to 1799, when 19-year-old Benjamin Greene set up a brewing business in Bury St Edmunds. The company says he joined the yarn maker William Buck in 1806 to buy the century-old Wright’s Brewery. Its history also records that Greene owned sugar plantations in the West Indies, where he enslaved people, and criticised abolitionists in columns in his own newspaper. Chief executive Nick Mackenzie called the founder’s profit from slavery and opposition to abolition “inexcusable” in 2020.
The families behind the name
Greene King says Benjamin’s son Edward joined his local rival Frederick King in 1887 to form Greene, King and Sons. The International Directory of Company Histories says the families kept control of most shares after the company went public in 1926. The East Anglian Film Archive describes how Sir Hugh Greene, a former BBC Director-General and brother of the novelist Graham Greene, later chaired his great-grandfather Benjamin’s brewery.
Sources: The Motley Fool, 2019 ; Greene King, Our history ; Restaurant Online, 2020 ; International Directory of Company Histories
What shareholders got
Shareholders received 25% off food and drink in Greene King’s managed pubs, restaurants and hotels.
Where the vouchers worked
Brands included Chef & Brewer, Hungry Horse, Farmhouse Inns and Greene King Locals, at sites Greene King ran itself.
Who qualified
You needed at least 100 ordinary shares on 31 July of the year the booklet was issued.
Shares held through a broker
Shares held in your own name or through a nominee qualified.
If you held through a broker or a stocks and shares ISA, your nominee had to order the booklet and pass it on. We did not test any broker’s service.
Previous claim process
Greene King would not send a booklet directly to a broker’s customer, even with proof of share ownership.
- 1. Shares held in your own nameGreene King posted the booklet to qualifying holders.
- 2. Shares held through a brokerYour nominee had to tell Greene King’s company secretary at the end of July how many booklets it needed. Greene King sent the batch to the nominee to pass on to its customers.
- 3. Using the bookletYou showed that month’s voucher when paying for food and drink.
Exclusions and limits
Excluded: Pubs run by tenants rather than Greene King.
Usage limits: Each monthly voucher could be used five times.
Dates
The former terms did not specify any minimum holding period or end date for the offer.
- Qualifying date
- 31 July of the year the booklet was issued
- Benefit issued
- Booklets were posted in August.
- Expiry
- Each voucher was for one named month, September to August.
Practical notes
Could the final booklet still be used?
The final booklet’s validity after the takeover is unconfirmed.
What the shareholder FAQ leaves out
The FAQ gives no cash cap per visit or rules on combining discounts.