BEER TRADING LIMITED

What BEER TRADING LIMITED does

Beer Trading Limited (trading as The Beer Trading Company) is an independent B2B wholesale drinks distributor founded in 1999 and headquartered in Middlewich, Cheshire. The company supplies alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages to licensed on-trade hospitality venues — primarily pubs, bars, hotels, clubs, restaurants, sports clubs, and holiday parks — across the North West of England and North Wales, covering Cheshire, Manchester, North Wales, Shropshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, and the Wirral. Its catalogue spans nine product categories (cask ales, draught lager, craft beer, bottled beers and ciders, spirits, wines, draught cider, soft drinks, and sundries) with access to over 4,000 products through direct relationships with major brewers and brand owners including Heineken, Carlsberg Marstons, Brewdog, Beavertown, Guinness, and Coca-Cola, plus an exclusive wine portfolio partnership with Kompass Wines.

The business runs on a credit-account model with bespoke pricing quotations rather than published price lists. Customers are onboarded via an online credit account application, then served through named account managers, a 24-hour order line, and a trade login portal for order management. Distribution is operated via the company's own delivery fleet, offering same-day delivery on orders placed before 12pm and a 6-day-a-week service. Supporting services include tailored wine list design, technical support for dispensing equipment, sale-and-return options, and point-of-sale materials.

There is no proprietary technology stack disclosed; the platform is described as standard supply chain and logistics systems. Revenue is generated purely through wholesale transactional margin on credit-account sales, with no disclosed subscription, marketplace, or consumer-direct channels. The company has 16 employees, is privately held with no disclosed institutional investors or parent company, and has not raised external funding.

Name

BEER TRADING LIMITED

Legal name

Beer Trading Limited

Website

https://beertrading.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Beer Trading Limited is an independent B2B wholesale drinks distributor founded in 1999, supplying over 4,000 alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage SKUs to licensed on-trade venues (pubs, bars, hotels, clubs, sports clubs) across the North West of England and North Wales via same-day, 6-day-a-week delivery on credit accounts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Beverage Wholesale Distribution

NAICS

Beer, Wine, and Distilled Alcoholic Beverage Merchant Wholesalers (4248)

SIC

Wholesale-Beer, Wine & Distilled Alcoholic Beverages (5180)

akta.pro primary industry

Beer, Wine & Spirits Wholesale Distribution (CRAOAIAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Alcoholic Beverage Wholesale (Beer, Wine, Spirits) (AFAIAGAA)

Keywords

• Wholesale drinks supply
• Beverage distribution services
• On-trade hospitality supply
• Licensed trade wholesaler
• Beer and wine wholesale

Headquarters

HQ city

Middlewich

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Wholesale Drinks Sales: Revenue generated through the wholesale sale of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages to licensed on-trade premises. Products include cask ales, draught lager, craft beer, bottled beers and ciders, spirits, wines, draught cider, soft drinks, and sundries. Sales are conducted on credit accounts with invoiced payment terms. They also offer equipment hire services as part of their offering.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Beer Trading Limited is an independent B2B wholesale drinks distributor supplying alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages to licensed on-trade hospitality venues across the North West of England and North Wales. The company offers over 4,000 products across cask ales, draught lager, craft beer, bottled beers and ciders, spirits, wines, draught cider, soft drinks, and sundries, sourced directly from major brewers and brand owners. Core operational services include trade credit accounts, same-day delivery for orders placed before 12pm, 6-day-a-week delivery, a 24-hour order line, technical equipment support, and bespoke wine list design.

Product overview

Beer Trading Limited (trading as The Beer Trading Company) operates as a composite wholesale drinks supplier offering a unified e-commerce platform for the on-trade licensed industry. The core offering consists of an online ordering system accessible via a trade login portal, through which customers can browse and purchase from nine product categories: Cask Ales, Draught Lager, Craft Beer, Bottled Beers & Ciders, Spirits, Draught Cider, Wines, Soft Drinks, and Sundries. The company supplies over 4,000 products from direct relationships with brand owners including major brewers such as ABK, Beavertown, Bitburger, Brains, Brewdog, Carlsberg-Marstons, Heineken, and others. Supporting services include same-day delivery (orders before 12pm), 24-hour order line, 6-day weekly delivery, credit account facilities, and tailored wine list design. The company also provides seasonal marketing brochures (Cask & Craft monthly brochures, Summer Autumn, Spring Summer, Winter Spring, and Christmas brochures) and access to the Kompass Wines portfolio.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Cask & Craft: Monthly brochure featuring cask ales and craft beer products
• Kompass Wines

Products and services

• Cask Ales

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 25 years in business with customers reporting up to 15 years of continuous supply relationships
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and notable.

• ABKcoreTechnology or IntegrationBrand partner supplying cask ales and draught products through Beer Trading's wholesale distribution to on-trade venues.
• BeavertowncoreTechnology or IntegrationCraft beer brand partner supplying products through Beer Trading's wholesale distribution network.
• BrewdogcoreTechnology or IntegrationCraft beer brand partner supplying products through Beer Trading's wholesale distribution network.
• Carlsberg MarstonscoreTechnology or IntegrationMajor brewer partner supplying lagers and ales through Beer Trading's wholesale distribution.
• HeinekencoreTechnology or IntegrationInternational brewer partner supplying lager and cider products through Beer Trading's wholesale distribution.
• Coca-ColacoreTechnology or IntegrationSoft drinks partner supplying carbonated beverages and mixers through Beer Trading's wholesale distribution.
• Kompass WinescoreTechnology or IntegrationExclusive wine portfolio partner with dedicated price increase updates and wine portfolio brochure. Beer Trading provides dedicated pages for Kompass Wines Price Increase Updates.
• GuinnesscoreTechnology or IntegrationDiageo brand partner supplying stout products through Beer Trading's wholesale distribution.
• Oakham AlesnotableTechnology or IntegrationRegional craft brewer partner supplying cask ales through Beer Trading's distribution network.
• Fever-TreenotableTechnology or IntegrationPremium mixer brand partner supplying premium tonics and mixers through Beer Trading's wholesale distribution.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Matthew Clark: Part of C&C Group, Matthew Clark is the UK's largest on-trade drinks wholesaler, supplying beers, wines, spirits, and soft drinks to licensed hospitality venues — directly comparable in product mix, customer base, and B2B wholesale model to Beer Trading, though at materially greater scale.
• LWC Drinks: UK on-trade beverage wholesaler supplying wines, beers, spirits, and soft drinks to pubs, bars, restaurants, and hotels. Operates the same B2B on-trade distribution model with credit accounts and direct brewer relationships, making it a close peer to Beer Trading.

Broad incumbents

• Bestway Wholesale: One of the UK's largest independent wholesale groups, with a substantial on-trade beverage offering alongside grocery and foodservice. Significantly larger and broader than Beer Trading, but competes for the same licensed hospitality customers with multi-category supply propositions.
• Booker Wholesale: Part of the Tesco group, Booker is the UK's largest foodservice wholesaler supplying caterers, pubs, and hospitality venues. While broader in scope than Beer Trading, its on-trade beverage range and delivery infrastructure overlap meaningfully with the on-trade supply proposition.

Regional players

• Robinsons Brewery: Independent family brewery based in Stockport, North West England, with its own on-trade distribution to licensed venues across the same North West footprint as Beer Trading. Comparable as a regional brewer-wholesaler serving the same geographic customer base.
• Adnams: Suffolk-based regional brewer and hospitality operator with its own on-trade distribution arm supplying independent pubs and venues. Comparable as a regional producer-distributor combining brewery, wholesale, and on-trade supply in a defined geography.
• Hall & Woodhouse: Dorset-based regional brewer with proprietary on-trade distribution supplying its Badger beer brand and other products to pubs and licensed venues in the South of England. Comparable regional producer-distributor model to Beer Trading's composite wholesaler approach.
• St Austell Brewery: Cornwall-based independent regional brewer with its own wholesale and on-trade distribution arm serving pubs and licensed venues in the South West. Similar regional brewer-distributor archetype operating at broadly similar scale to Beer Trading.
• Shepherd Neame: Britain's oldest brewer, based in Kent, with on-trade distribution supplying its own brands and guest beers to licensed venues across the South East. Comparable regional brewery-wholesaler combination serving on-trade hospitality in a defined geography.

Others

• Molson Coors Beverage Company: One of the major brewer-suppliers to Beer Trading (via its UK brands) and a vertically integrated competitor that combines brewing with on-trade distribution at scale. Relevant as both a supplier partner and an indirect competitor for on-trade accounts.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/beertrading
• Facebookfacebook.com/thebeertradingcompany

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about BEER TRADING LIMITED