Cain's Brewery, Stanhope Street

Image: © Sue Adair Taken: 15 Aug 2005

Born in County Cork in 1826, Robert Cain first arrived in Liverpool at the age of eighteen and from his modest pay as a merchant seaman he managed to accumulate sufficient funds to buy a pub with brewhouse attached in Limekiln Lane. He rapidly gained a reputation for his brewing skills and quickly became known throughout the city for the exceptional quality of his beers. By 1878 demand for his ales was such that he acquired an old established brewery on the current site. This is the landmark red brick brewery was built between 1883 and 1902 and was considered to be the most modern of the time. In 1911 Cains was merged with Walkers of Warrington forming a new company known as Walker Cain Ltd., production was transferred to Warrington and in 1923 the Stanhope Brewery was sold to Daniel Higson. In 1985 the Brewery was acquired by Boddingtons and in 1990 the Boddington brands were acquired by Whitbread, leaving the Brewery to close. In 1990 the Brewery was reopened by G.B. Brewers ltd and in 1991 was renamed Robert Cain & Co Ltd. The brewery produced a lusty and deservedly popular Liverpudlian pint but tight margins brought it to the brink of closure again in 2002 and that’s when the Dusanj brothers stepped in. Entrepreneurs, who started off in their father’s fish and chip business, the brothers were deeply affected by the story of Robert Cain & Company and felt that its demise would be a tragedy. Convinced not only that Liverpool could support its ‘own’ brewery but also that there was a wider market for the excellent beers it produced, they decided to mount a rescue operation. This proved to be spectacularly successful. Under the stewardship of the Dusanj brothers, Cains is now one of the fastest growing breweries in the country, with a £30 million annual turnover, 150 employees, and more than 120 million pints of beer brewed annually. The first Asian family ever to run a British brewery, the brothers are building on the fine traditions of excellent quality ales and the entrepreneurial spirit of Robert Cain, whilst using the freedom that being outside the traditional brewing establishment gives them to gently shake up the industry.

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