The brewery group behind brands such as Black Sheep, Hofmeister and Fourpure is on the brink of collapse as it grapples with a lethal cocktail of surging costs and waning consumer confidence in the run-up to this week’s budget.
Sky News has learnt that Keystone Brewing Group, which also owns Purity Brewing Company and distributes a range of other brands, has filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators to give the company time to orchestrate a restructuring or sale.
Keystone employs roughly 190 people at breweries across the country.
It owns a number of brands outright, while others – including Hofmeister, the well-known Bavarian lager – are the subject of exclusive sales and distribution partnerships.
Some of the beers in the Keystone stable are among the best-known in Britain, with Black Sheep having been founded in 1992 by a member of the Theakston brewing family.
Black Sheep previously fell into administration in 2023, before being rescued by its current owner.
The notice of intention to appoint FRP Advisory as administrators to Keystone is understood to have been made amid pressure from a number of the company’s trade creditors.
Industry sources said that Keystone had seen a slump in sales this month amid dwindling confidence from key trade customers and consumers ahead of Rachel Reeves’s budget earlier this week.
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One brewing executive said the persistent drip-feed of speculation about tax hikes – some of which failed to materialise in the chancellor’s speech – had prompted trade customers to rein in orders and consumers to reduce spending in the last few weeks.
Keystone is run by industry veteran Steve Cox, who joined earlier this year with a brief to hit a £100m annual sales target by 2028.
The company is backed by Breal, an investment firm which has poured millions of pounds of investment into the brewery sector in recent years, including rescue deals for a number of struggling businesses.
Breal could not be reached for comment.
