Apart from a six-year stint with Domino’s Pizza, Georgina Wald has been with Fuller’s for almost 25 years, although she has been in the licensed retail sector far longer. She began her love affair with the sector in 1995 when she started as a journalist on the Publican newspaper, followed by a role at the BII (British Institute of Innkeeping) before joining Fuller’s in 2002.
George, as she is usually called, took time out of her busy schedule to do a question and answer session at CAMRA North London Branch’s AGM on 21 July. The questions covered a whole range of topics, not least why the family sold Fuller’s Griffin Brewery to Asahi. George explained that this was a tough decision, and one that the board agonised over, but the reason was to safeguard Fuller’s future. The board chose to approach Asahi as they believed that the Japanese brewers had the commitment to continue brewing in Chiswick. George added, “the Fuller’s pub company have a long-term supply agreement with Asahi and London Pride is still a highly popular brand across Fuller’s pubs.”
Whether a pub sells only Fuller’s beers varies from pub to pub. “In total, in 2025, the pub company sold 125 different cask beers. We have a particularly strong relationship with Tiny Rebel and Siren,” said George. What is perhaps not obvious is that the balance of the pub estate is only slightly biased towards managed pubs; of their 332 pubs, 45% are tenanted.
This individuality also applies to discounts for CAMRA members. George explained, “The managers have autonomy to decide and around a quarter of our managed pubs offer a discount.”
George loves her beer; she has been an active supporter of CAMRA over the years and is passionate about the quality of the ale sold in their pubs. At the Q&A, she was making notes on the comments made by people about pubs where people thought the cask beer wasn’t 100% and she promised to investigate. And knowing George, she will stick to her word.
Christine Cryne