The Ushers Brewery Relocation: From Trowbridge to Pyongyang
The transition of the Ushers of Trowbridge brewery from a historic Wiltshire institution to a state-owned North Korean enterprise remains one of the most unusual industrial acquisitions of the 21st century. This document details the timeline, logistics, and historical context of how a British regional brewery became the Taedonggang Brewing Company.
1. Historical Context and Closure of Ushers
Ushers of Trowbridge was a cornerstone of the local Wiltshire economy, originally founded in 1824. For over 170 years, the brewery was synonymous with traditional British ales. However, changing consumer tastes and corporate consolidation in the late 1990s led to financial difficulties. In 2000, the historic brewery went into administration and closed its doors, leaving a massive facility filled with modern, computer-controlled brewing equipment sitting dormant.
2. The North Korean Acquisition Strategy
Concurrent with the closure of Ushers, North Korea was emerging from the devastating “Arduous March” famine of the 1990s. Then-Supreme Leader Kim Jong-il sought to initiate domestic production projects that would project state capability, improve domestic morale, and provide a world-class consumer product. Rather than designing and building a facility from scratch, the North Korean state opted to acquire an existing, high-quality brewery on the international secondary market.
- The Broker: North Korean diplomats stationed in Switzerland engaged Uwe Oehms, a German broker who specialized in purchasing and relocating second-hand brewing equipment globally.
- The Deal: Oehms successfully negotiated the purchase of the entire Ushers brewing apparatus for approximately £1.5 million. This price represented a fraction of the cost of building a comparable modern facility.
3. Regulatory Hurdles and the “Dual-Use” Dilemma
Before the equipment could be exported from Avonmouth docks, the UK government intervened. Modern brewing utilizes highly sophisticated, computer-controlled vessels, precise temperature regulators, and extensive piping networks. These components are considered “dual-use” technology.
The Ministry of Defence and Customs and Excise had to conduct thorough inspections to ensure the equipment could not be repurposed for the manufacture of chemical or biological weapons. Once investigators were satisfied that the North Korean delegation genuinely intended to brew beer, the export licenses were granted.
4. Deconstruction and Logistics
The physical relocation of the plant was characterized by extreme meticulousness. A team comprising North Korean officials, translators, and Russian engineers arrived in Trowbridge to oversee the dismantling process.
- Comprehensive Extraction: The team stripped the facility bare. They packed massive brewing vessels, fermentation tanks, 20,000 metal kegs, pipework, and structural elements. Reports indicate they even took the floor tiles and toilet seats.
- Shipping: The entire operation was packed into roughly 30 massive shipping containers for the voyage to East Asia.
- Knowledge Transfer: Recognizing that the equipment was useless without expertise, the delegation attempted to recruit Gary Todd, Ushers’ former head brewer. Todd declined to relocate to Pyongyang, but he spent several weeks providing intensive tutorials and explaining the schematics to the buyers.
5. Reassembly and Rebirth as Taedonggang
By 2002, the Russian engineering team had successfully reassembled the brewery on what was formerly a cabbage field on the outskirts of Pyongyang. The facility was rechristened the Taedonggang Brewing Company, named after the river that flows through the North Korean capital.
Production and Market Impact
Unlike the traditional British ales formerly produced in Trowbridge, Taedonggang leveraged the computerised German-made equipment to produce a variety of lagers. The flagship beer, Taedonggang No. 2, is a crisp lager with a 5.7% ABV.
| Feature | Ushers of Trowbridge | Taedonggang Brewing Company |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Trowbridge, Wiltshire, UK | Pyongyang, North Korea |
| Era of Operation | 1824 – 2000 | 2002 – Present |
| Primary Product | Traditional British Cask Ales | German-style Lagers |
| Market Position | Regional British Brewery | Dominant State Monopoly (approx. 70% domestic market share) |
6. Conclusion
Today, Taedonggang beer is highly regarded by international beverage critics, frequently praised as superior to the mass-market beers produced in neighboring South Korea. The legacy of Ushers of Trowbridge thus lives on, albeit in an entirely different cultural and political context, serving as a bizarre but fascinating footnote in global industrial history.
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