Bobby Neame
Scion of the Shepherd Neame brewing dynasty who saw the firm through testing times in the industry
BOBBY NEAME, who has died aged 85, was chairman of the Kent-based brewer Shepherd Neame during a period of radical change in the beer industry and pub trade. Neame achieved steady growth in his family business against a background of evolving leisure and drinking habits as well as new legislation affecting the ownership of pubs; the company substantially enlarged its estate and multiplied its profits during his chairmanship from 1971 to 2005.
In addition to running the brewery business, he was a tireless promoter of the “Hop County” in his capacity as chairman of the South-east Tourist Board and leader of Kent County Council, as well as through Shepherd Neame’s sponsorship of sports and events.
Shepherd Neame traces its foundation to 1698, when Richard Marsh took over an existing brewery in Court Street, Faversham; the widow of Marsh’s son, also called Richard, married Samuel Shepherd, whose descendants ran the business until Percy Neame, a relation by marriage and a hop farmer, joined the partnership in 1864 and in due course became sole owner.
Robert Harry Beale Neame was born on February 25 1934, the son of Jasper Neame – chairman of the brewery and Percy’s grandson – and his wife Violet. Bobby, as he was always known, was educated at Harrow, where he was head boy, and did National Service in Germany as a subaltern in the 17/21st Lancers, becoming Army rackets champion in 1954.
He then embarked on a tour of European and Scandinavian breweries, finishing at Hürlimann in Zurich, and a pupillage at Brickwood’s in Portsmouth, before joining the family firm in 1956. He joined the board the following year and became marketing director in 1961.
Aware that family brewers were increasingly vulnerable to takeover (he once rejected three bid approaches in a single week), and foreseeing changing drinking tastes, he diversified from traditional ales to introduce a Hürlimann lager in 1968, ahead of much of the competition; lagers, later including the Indian brand Kingfisher brewed under licence, eventually accounted for half the brewery’s output.
He also gradually added more pubs, and took advantage of the 1989 Beer Orders which forced the major brewing groups to sell off large numbers of outlets.
Utilising his knowledge of the byways of Kent, Neame was able to purchase most of the pubs he wanted, chiefly from the larger Whitbread, and he expanded Shepherd Neame’s heartland to create a sizeable estate of more than 300 pubs across the South East and in London; they were all encouraged to offer a warm traditional welcome and, as pubs became predominantly places to eat as well as drink, an attractive menu.
When his customers started crossing the Channel to buy cheap booze, Bobby ensured that Shepherd Neame products were available in the hypermarkets of Calais. In 1990 he launched the patriotically marketed Spitfire ale to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Britain and raise money for the RAF Benevolent Fund.
In an instinctively conservative company, not all family members shared Bobby’s vision or thrived as managers under his autocratic leadership: “The best committees are made up of two people, with one permanently absent,” was one of his cheerful aphorisms.
But he appointed first-class executives to modernise production and spearhead the brewery’s marketing, and his strategy was largely vindicated as many other regional brewers were swallowed by conglomerates. After retiring from the chair he was president of the company; his eldest son Jonathan is now its chief executive.
Bobby Neame served as Conservative county councillor for Faversham from 1965 to 1989 and chaired the British section of the International Union of Local Authorities. As leader of Kent council from 1982 to 1984, he found himself in confrontation with the Nalgo union over pay – and was burned in effigy at a rally in Maidstone.
Among many other roles, Neame was chairman of the South-east Tourist Board from 1979 to 1990 and chairman of Folkestone Racecourse from 1988 to 1999. He was a regional director of National Westminster Bank and Royal Insurance, a deputy lieutenant of Kent and High Sheriff in 2001. He was appointed CBE in 1999.
A skier, shooter and keen player of squash, rackets and cricket, Bobby Neame was president of Kent CCC in 2003-04. As befitted a brewer, he was also a convivial host with a keen sense of fun.
His first marriage, to Sally Corben, was dissolved and he married secondly, in 1974, Yvonne Mackenzie, who survives him with their daughter, and a son and two daughters of the first marriage; another son predeceased him.