Acme went from strength to strength in the fridge & freezer supply business, with strong growth in both the domestic & commercial markets over the next decade. But it was to be our work with pubs & breweries that really took Acme into the next chapter.
Throughout the 1900’s, Blackburn was the centre of the beer-brewing industry. Home to Thwaites’s famous brewery, the Blackburn Brewing Company (latter Duttons Brewery), Lions Brewery, Whitbread and many others, it became Lancashires honeypot for great beer. This industry was to give Acme its biggest growth opportunity, as the company found out in the 70’s and 80’s.
In the 70’s, pubs were undergoing a transformation. Independent pubs were getting bought-out by breweries, and pubs and social clubs were becoming even more popular. Pubs started to become full entertainment venues, with live music, bar food and a wider selection of beverages.
Lager became popular in the 1970’s, as did carbonated soft drinks. The demand for these two types of drink was to entirely change the type of technology required within pubs, with a new focus on keeping drinks ice-cold and refreshing. This change revolved around refrigeration, and Acme were poised to deliver that change.
As breweries bought out smaller pubs, they initiated programmes to bring them up to new standards, ensuring they all had cellar coolers, ice machines, bottle coolers, glass washers and even basic food cooking equipment (e.g. microwaves).
Pubs were different outfits before this time. Whilst cellar coolers had been around for several years before Acme began, they only became mainstream from the late 50’s onwards. Previous to that, cellars relied on their natural below-ground temperature to keep beer cool. During summer, your beer was warm, and that was that.
Post-mix soft drinks simply didn’t exist. Drinks didn’t come with ice. Glasses were washed by hand. Bottles were stored on room-temperature shelves, with a select few kept on ‘cold shelves’ (which were, in short, rubbish). Pubs evolved, and Acme found themselves delivering swathes of cellar cooling installs, bottle coolers and other cooling equipment. Ice machines, glasswashers and microwaves followed shortly after, enabling pubs to increase capacity, serve more customers and provide basic food options.
Ice machines, glasswashers and microwaves were not only the start of Acme’s catering department, but the start of our famous equipment rental programme.
As the brewery trade was a healthy industry, there were plenty of mergers and acquisitions between 1970 & 1990. Breweries bought other breweries, and key personnel moved around and worked for their competitors. As such, the Acme name travelled further afield, and our reputation for quality service led us to work for breweries outside of the Lancashire region. From Scottish & Newcastle in the North East, to Bass in the South, Acme’s operations took their first step to becoming truly national.
