Who owns Batemans Brewery? | Highstreett
The Bateman family does.
Batemans Brewery is George Bateman & Son Limited, company number 00232213, at Salem Bridge Brewery in Wainfleet, Lincolnshire. It is not owned by a bigger brewer, a pub company or a private equity fund. Every voting share is held either by Stuart and Jaclyn Bateman in their own names or by one of six trusts, and the brewery describes itself as a fifth-generation family brewery.
Who holds the shares?
The company's confirmation statement made on 2 December 2025 lists every shareholder. All the votes sit in 32,601 ordinary shares, held like this:
| Holder | Ordinary shares | Share of the vote |
|---|---|---|
| GGB PMB PGH BCSB 1983 Trust | 15,000 | 46.0% |
| Stuart G Bateman | 4,256 | 13.1% |
| Jaclyn C Bateman | 4,256 | 13.1% |
| 2004 Trust | 3,177 | 9.7% |
| Discretionary Trust PMB 1997 | 2,000 | 6.1% |
| Discretionary Trust GGB 1997 | 2,000 | 6.1% |
| George & Pat Bateman Charitable Trust | 1,412 | 4.3% |
| GGB PMB BCSB Charitable Trust | 500 | 1.5% |
Those holdings add up to exactly the 32,601 ordinary shares shown in the company's accounts for the year to 31 January 2026, so the two filings agree. The percentages are ours, rounded, and are worked out from the share counts.
Stuart and Jaclyn Bateman, the fourth generation of the family, hold just over a quarter of the vote in their own names. The other 74% is held in trusts. Two of them are charitable trusts, one named after George and Pat Bateman, who led the family's fight to keep the brewery in the 1980s. No company, fund or brewer appears anywhere on the list.
There are also 483,250 preference shares. They pay a fixed 6.5% dividend, rank first if the company is ever wound up, and carry no vote, so they do not decide who controls Batemans.
Why does Companies House name the chairman?
The register of people with significant control does not list a Bateman. Since 3 October 2024 it has listed Jeffrey Philip Moore, recorded as having significant influence or control over the trustees of a trust, and as a member of a firm. Before him, from 2016, the same kind of entry named Haydn Biddle.
That entry describes who has influence over how the trusts are run. It is not a record of a sale: the shares themselves are still held by the trusts listed above. No individual is recorded as owning more than 25% of the company personally, because the biggest single holding belongs to a trust rather than a person. Mr Moore is also Batemans' chairman and signed its 2026 accounts in that role.
Who runs it?
The company has seven directors. Stuart George Carson Bateman and Jaclyn Carol Bateman have both been directors since before 1991. Alongside them are Jeffrey Moore, Stephen Oliver (a director since 2010), Ian Furniss (since 2016, and also the company secretary), and Nicholas Arthur and Neil Herbert, both appointed in October 2023.
How did the family keep it?
Batemans was founded in 1874 by George Bateman and moved to Salem House in Wainfleet, beside the River Steeping, in the 1880s.
The moment it came closest to leaving the family was the 1980s. In March 1985 George Bateman's brother John and sister Helen said they wanted to sell. George, the third generation and managing director, set out to buy them out instead, with significant borrowing from the bank, and pubs were sold later in the decade to bring the debt down. On 3 February 1987 the company announced that "the long-standing differences between the shareholders, as to the future of the company, have been resolved."
Nearly forty years later, the share register still reflects that decision.
How is the business doing?
For the year to 31 January 2026, George Bateman & Son Limited reported turnover of £21.2 million, down from £21.8 million, and a profit after tax of £1.44 million, down from £1.64 million. Net assets rose to £25.9 million. The directors put the lower operating profit down to rising costs and described the company as being in a strong financial position.
The company paid an ordinary dividend of £108,086 in August 2025.
In 2025 the company also bought back and cancelled 1,716 ordinary shares. They had been issued to one of the directors for £51,480 and only a fifth of that had been paid. That is why the number of ordinary shares fell from 34,317 to 32,601. It was a tidy-up of partly paid shares, not a change of owner.
Is Batemans an independent brewery?
Yes, in the sense most drinkers mean: no larger brewing group, pub company or investment fund owns any part of it. It is not a small business, though. It brews at Wainfleet, runs its own estate of pubs and turns over more than £21 million a year. A Batemans pub belongs to George Bateman & Son Limited, and through it to the Bateman family and their trusts, rather than to the person behind the bar.
Last checked 13 September 2026. This article uses George Bateman & Son Limited's confirmation statement made on 2 December 2025, its register of people with significant control, its list of officers, and its full accounts for the year to 31 January 2026, filed at Companies House on 24 August 2026, alongside the brewery's own history pages. Shareholdings change, and the register is the place to check the current position. If you spot something that needs correcting, email Highstreett and we will review it.