Pub company to educate staff on slave trade history
GREENE KING WANTS BOOST DIVERSITY INITIATIVES IN REACTION TO ITS 18C FOUNDER WHO PROFITED FROM SLAVERY
A BURTON-BASED pub firm whose founder argued against the abolition of slavery has announced an education programmes for its employees.
Greene King has revealed a new partnership with the International Slavery Museum to help raise awareness and educate staff about the historic transatlantic slave trade.
As part of the new partnership, Greene King employees will get the opportunity to take part in online workshops on Understanding Transatlantic Slavery.
The Liverpool-based museum will also work with the firm on exploring the history of Benjamin Greene, one of the brewery’s founding members, who profited from slavery and argued against its abolition in the 1800s.
Greene King, whose Burton offices are in Ninth Avenue on the Centrum 100 Business Park, was founded by Mr Greene in 1787.
After founding the brewery, he went on to own cane sugar plantations in the West Indies where he owned enslaved Africans and profited from their labour.
The slave trade was abolished in 1833, but instead of government compensation going to those treated as slaves, it went to their former owners for their “loss of human property”.
Benjamin Greene was one of those who benefited.
The company was taken over by his son Edward in 1836, who renamed it Greene King in 1887 after merging with rival brewery Frederick King.
Current Greene King chief executive Nick Mackenzie recently slammed the founder’s “inexcusable” link to the slave trade.
The firm made a commitment in June, as part of wider discussions about British companies with historic links to slavery, to significantly invest in initiatives to support more young people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds to begin a career in hospitality.
The new partnership begins with financial support by Greene King for the National Museums Liverpool’s Black History Month programme this month and will be followed by initiatives over the coming months as part of Greene King’s wider inclusion and diversity programme.
Announcing the new partnership, Mr Mackenzie said: “There is no place for racism or discrimination anywhere in society and I am proud to be at the beginning of this exciting partnership.
“We’re working hard to build a more inclusive and diverse workforce with increased opportunities for people from minority ethnic backgrounds, but equally we don’t want to lose sight of the past.
“It is inexcusable that one of our founders profited from slavery and while that was nearly 200 years ago we can’t pretend it didn’t happen.
“We want to educate and work with the International Slavery Museum to learn more about the past and better inform our choices for the future.”
Richard Benjamin, head of the International Slavery Museum, said: “The move by Greene King to support Black History Month and commit to working with the International Slavery Museum on educational and transformative initiatives is a positive step in the right direction.
“Reparative justice must acknowledge past abuses and respond to their continuing legacies.
“We hope that more institutions and businesses in the UK with the same historical links to slavery can be equally as transparent about their origins.
“We are therefore pleased to work with Greene King, to share our resources and knowledge, and to help them become a more diverse and inclusive employer, one that can be the model for best business practice.”