A Community of Brewers

Brewers' Hall was bustling on 20 February when over 90 Liverymen and guests joined the Master for the Company's first major Livery event of 2018 - the annual Livery Luncheon. The Luncheon is an important event in the Company's calendar, providing an opportunity for Liverymen to invite guests from within the brewing industry to meet with friends and colleagues in the convivial surroundings of the Hall.

The Brewers' Company is a rarity among the Livery Companies of the City of London, retaining as it does its close connection to the industry upon which it was founded. Over the hundreds of years that the Livery Companies have been in existence, many have moved away from their traditional role in regulating industry to an entirely, or almost entirely, philanthropic one. Perhaps it says something about the enduring popularity of beer that the Brewers' Company has managed to retain its close association with the brewing industry over the years, albeit with a different function that it once had.

Today only directors of brewing companies are admitted to the Livery and supporting the brewing industry is one of the Company's three key objectives, along with its charitable work (the Company administers eleven separate charities) and supporting the governance of the City of London. The popularity of events such as last week's Livery Luncheon is a pleasing indication of the Company's success in maintaining a thriving community of Brewers from all over the UK.