UK’s Samuel Smith Brewery Fined In Pension Investigation

One of the UK’s biggest regional brewers, Samuel Smith, has been fined £30,000 for refusing to cooperate by the country’s Pensions Regulator as part of an ongoing probe into the company’s pension schemes.

Here’s the deal…

Samuel Smith Old Brewery (yep that Samuel Smith Brewery), along with its owner, Humphrey Smith, have been under investigation by UK’s Pensions Regulator (TPR) for more than a year and stonewalling the government arm by refusing to provide details on that company’s pension operations.

Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery, (popularly known as Samuel Smith’s or Sam Smith’s) a widely imported British boutique brand in the US for more than three decades has been under the gun (are we still allowed to say that?), for failing to provide the TPR with the necessary numbers to help them better “understand the funding position of some of the brewery’s pension schemes”.

Founded in 1758, Samuel Smith’s, which employs more than 2,000 people is overseen by its Chairman Humphrey Smith, a legendary eccentric who rules his Northern England brewing empire with an iron hand.

After numerous requests for more information by the TPR, Humphrey Smith finally issued a response that was almost begging to be fined by the UK Pension Regulator.

“We are in receipt of your tiresome letter and we are not prepared to divulge the information to your organization.”

Losing its patience the TPR finally ‘jumped ugly’…accusing the company and “brewery boss’ (we just love how that sounds) Humphrey Smith of being “in breach of the Pensions Act 2004 by neglecting or refusing to provide information and documents without a reasonable excuse.”

And although the brewer did end up handing over the relevant documents, legal proceedings had already been launched by the TPR who clearly didn’t appreciate Smith’s snide letter.

Smith pleaded guilty to the offences and was fined a cold £30,000 at a hearing on July 30th in Brighton Magistrate’s Court.

The brewery’s pension plan will now be subject to TPR analysis and given the company’s hesitancy in turning over the documents we’ve got to think there’s more to this story.

In addition to its brewery Sam Smith’s’ operates over 200 pubs across the country and is renowned for keeping costs down not only by only selling its own beer which, according to the Drinks Business, is extremely inexpensive, but also its own wines, spirits and soft drinks.

No music is played in the Sam Smith’s pubs either as Humphrey Smith reportedly “refuses to pay music copyright levies.”