Inside the thriller of Britain’s most reclusive beer baron

He is the notoriously strict pub boss who famously banned mobiles and once sacked landlords after overhearing a customer swear.

Reclusive beer baron Humphrey Smith’s vast empire is built on extreme rules – no dogs, TVs, music or laptops, let alone fruit machines, muddy boots or children.

But now the 79-year-old millionaire is being accused of failing to abide by his very exacting standards by locals in his own home town.

Critics claim Mr Smith is holding Tadcaster, North Yorks – of which he owns swathes – over a barrel by allowing his brewery’s property portfolio to decay. 

They have accused the wealthy businessman of condemning their market town to the ‘dark ages’ by failing to refurbish his empty shops, unoccupied houses and derelict pubs.

But as Mr Smith meanders to the local pool for a lunchtime dip, the unassuming 79-year-old appears a far cry from his formidable reputation as a fearsome beer baron.

MailOnline spotted the elderly pub boss walking along the street with a tatty towel underarm with his head down – just like any other pensioner on their way to a leisure centre.

In our pictures, it is safe to say, he does not deliver the impression of a man who heads up a multi-million pound family dynasty.

His Samuel Smith brewery, which owns more than 200 pubs across the land, has been built on its chairman’s extreme rules and uncompromising ideals.

While many fear the wrath of speaking out publicly about their wealthy overlord, discontent in the small town, near York, appears to be growing.

Patrick Tunney, 84, who has lived in Tadcaster for 31 years, said: ‘He’s the Laird of Tadcaster. That’s what I’ve heard people describe him as.

‘I’ve heard him described by people who admire him and I’ve heard him described by people who absolutely abhor him.

‘It’s split in the community – you love him or hate him. He’s a Marmite man.

‘Sadly, the town isn’t the same as it was 30 years ago, and it’s not the same as it was before Covid.

‘We’ve lost the bank, the building society, the main post office and lots of the pubs.

‘There doesn’t appear to be any intention [by the brewery] to do anything about it.

‘[Mr Smith] lives and walks through Tadcaster every day and some people say they can’t understand how he doesn’t see what’s happening around him.’

Mr Smith – described to MailOnline as a ‘Dickensian figure’ – is reported to own up to 70 per cent of the commercial buildings in Tadcaster town centre.

We spotted the reclusive businessman make the short walk from brewery headquarters to the local swimming baths, past a string of run-down properties.

After taking his short dip, he returned head down combing his wet hair to stop off at The Little Delicatessen.

While some properties in Tadcaster have been restored by Smith’s brewery to a high standard, many others have not – leaving some residents to brand them ‘eyesores’.

Land immediately behind Mr Tunney’s home is owned by the Smith empire – Fircroft, a former retirement home, was purchased in the mid-1990s.

For all but around two years, says Mr Tunney, the property has been boarded up, fenced-off and empty.

Smith, descended from the brewery’s founder, also owns nearby Nun Appleton Hall, a Georgian stately home, bought in the 1980s.

Just a few people have set eyes on the listed manor over the past three decades, now lost to time hidden behind locked gates and barbed wire fences.

Of eight Sam Smith’s pubs in Tadcaster this week, four were closed for business.

They include the brewery’s own flagship taphouse, the Angel and White Horses, the nearby Fox and Horses and The Britannia, which last traded in 2016.

But even Sam Smith’s trading pubs in Tadcaster appear to suffer a lack of investment.

Mr Smith is said to be wholly against chains occupying his properties – similar to how his pubs do not stock any products made by big corporations.

When Costa Coffee opened directly opposite to the brewery’s HQ in a building not owned by the businessman, Mr Smith was reported to be furious.

Mr Tunney, a retired HR manager and town councillor, said: ‘A number of people praise him for what he’s done as a businessman, and I respect him as a businessman, because he is very, very adroit.

‘His business model appears to be quite successful regardless of what the outward image is.

‘He’s a skilful businessman but my reservation is that the legacy he leaves for Tadcaster could be much more meaningful for the residents.

‘We’ve had just handfuls of houses built in the last 20 years because it’s so hard to find non brewery-owned land to build on.

‘He could leave a legacy that people would respect him for.

‘I believe that rejuvenation is the way that we’ve got to go.

‘There are many other small market towns faced with the same predicament that we’ve got.

‘Here the major landowner exercises significant influence, which is quite unlike anywhere else, and which is getting us nowhere at the moment.

‘It could be so much better.’

At the Angel and White Horse, which sits next to the red brick HQ of Sam Smith’s and behind which shire horses used to make local deliveries are stabled, an advert in the window reads: ‘Reopening soon…under your new management?

‘A live-in joint management couple is required to run this catering pub with wet & food sales, rear courtyard with brewery stable and shire horses.

‘Good salary, flat provided, full training given. £1,000 bond required.’

The A4 notice has been there in some form for more than three years, say locals.

But perhaps it is no surprise that would-be landlords are not forthcoming.

Mr Smith is renowned for turning up at his pubs – scattered across the UK – unannounced to check managers are maintaining his standards – and closing them if they fail to comply.

He made headlines in 2019 after overhearing a drinker at his Fox & Goose pub in Droitwich Spa, Worcs, telling his wife a joke that contained a swear word.

Landlords Eric and Tracey Lowery, who had managed the pub for just seven weeks, quickly found themselves out of work and out of the flat above.

At the Cow and Calf in Sheffield, South Yorks, Smith was said to be unimpressed when his favourite dessert was unavailable.

Manager Louise Brownhill and husband Steve were fired, she claimed, despite explaining that they didn’t have the pudding – a chocolate fondant – because they had not been provided with a freezer.

After being closed in 2020, the pub finally reopened under new management this summer.

At an employment tribunal which found the brewery had unfairly constructively dismissed two managers from a pub in Edinburgh, Smith was last year characterised by a judge as ‘combative and argumentative’.

Employment judge Murdo Macleod said of Mr Smith: ‘He appeared to be very dismissive of the proceedings as a whole, and gave the impression that it was either a waste of his valuable time or beneath him.

‘He constantly sought to lay off responsibility for decisions elsewhere, particularly upon the lawyers representing the company.’

Of around 200 Samuel Smith’s pubs across Britain, a beer blogger wrote in 2022 that no fewer than 120 stood closed through lack of people to run them.

The company’s website insists: ‘We keep our pubs well maintained, being keen on conservation, and we don’t close them down for other uses, even in the most deprived areas.

‘It is the job of the managers to build up the trade by creating a friendly, social atmosphere with conversation, pub games and consistent high standards.

‘We do not have music, TVs or fruit machines in any of our pubs, we do not allow swearing and have negligible trouble.

‘We close all our pubs at 11 pm Monday to Saturday and 10.30 pm on a Sunday.’

Mr Tunney said: ‘The brewery is recruiting but it’s very difficult for them to find people who are prepared to come and work for them, apparently. And it’s such as shame.

‘The flagship pub adjacent to the brewery being closed is indicative of some sort of arcane philosophy.’

Or as another resident put it: ‘Imagine going to the Guinness brewery in Dublin and the taphouse being shut down.’

Mr Smith is perhaps rightfully described by those who have met him as an enigma.

Many stories regaled by locals may be more entrenched in myth than reality: That he was caught rummaging in bins behind a pub to discover their food waste, that he lives in just three rooms of his 18th century mansion, or that he bought a converted barn with the sole intention of making it once again a barn.

He now no longer drives, according to residents, having given up not a flash Ferrari but a modest Austin Allegro.

And despite soon turning 80, he walks the 1.2 miles to brewery headquarters clad in his accustomed tweed and wellies, stopping off most days for a swim at the local pool, which he helped fund.

One resident said Smith is often spotted waiting at a bus stop a stone’s throw from the brewery officers.

They said: ‘He jumps on the public transport and off he goes with his bus pass. And he will turn up at a pub in Rochdale with his portfolio underneath his arm.’

In Tadcaster, opinions on Mr Smith vary.

‘Evil? No. Eccentric? Yes. Too powerful. Probably,’ said one. Another insisted he was ‘cordial’ and a ‘nice man’ who is wrongly blamed for the town’s failings and ‘misunderstood’.

Derek Hawley, 70, said: ‘We like Tadcaster but it is just stuck in time.

‘Lots of the shops are empty because they’re owned by Humphrey Smith.

‘We’d like to see more happen here. A prime example is Boston Spa, four or five miles away, which is thriving, and Wetherby, too.

‘Tad, because of Humphrey, it’s in the dark ages.’

Another, who like many asked not to be named, said: ‘A lot of the buildings on the high street are falling apart and wouldn’t be fit for any business to rent.

‘But Humphrey is also very selective as to which businesses are allowed to rent from him. He won’t have any big chains renting from him.

‘We all agree that Tadcaster could be a lovely little town with nice bars and independent restaurants but he stands in the way.

‘The few restaurants we have are nice but struggle as there’s no reason to come to Tadcaster unless you live or work here.

‘I don’t think it can get much worse to be honest. The butcher does well and the cafes seem to do well but that’s it. I’d hope we’re at rock bottom but who knows.

‘He has too much control and he shouldn’t have the right to that. We live here too.’

In 2015, a 300-year-old stone bridge linking two sides of Tadcaster collapsed when the River Wharfe dramatically flooded its banks.

Mr Smith reportedly refused to allow his land to be used for a temporary footbridge unless he could have input on the replacement road bridge.

The bridge collapse meant residents were left with a twelve mile diversion to get from one side of the town to the other. Eventually a temporary footbridge was built across the river on council-owned land.

Smith eventually allowed a permanent widened bridge to be built on the original site, but only after an intervention from the then prime minister, David Cameron.

But for many in Tadcaster, the damage was done. To this day, Smith has not been forgiven by all.

Chris Metcalfe, 77, who has lived in Tadcaster his entire life has met Mr Smith numerous times.

He said: ‘Humphrey is extremely intelligent and astute and he’s very clear on what he wants. And you can’t fault him for that.

‘When he does something, he does it well. You’ve only got to look at the properties he has refurbished in Tadcaster. Once they’re refurbished he does maintain to a high standard.

‘But having said that, they are only a very small proportion of his estate in Tadcaster.

‘His argument for not being able to do any more is ‘it’s only a very small company and we’re very highly geared’. They are the words he told me once.

‘As an individual, he is probably not a very wealthy man in his own right. But everything that is in trust and what he controls probably makes him one of the wealthiest men in the United Kingdom.’

He added: ‘You’ve only got to look at the Britannia which was a well-used pub. It suffered badly when the bridge collapsed.

‘We’re nearly a decade on and it’s never been opened, it’s still neglected. It beggars belief. Anybody else who was in the private sector would want a return on that investment but he’s quite prepared just to leave it.

‘He may have a financial strategy, I don’t know. But from the outside it looks rather bizarre.’

Mr Smith’s determined conservatism is, according to Mr Metcalfe, tied to a desire to ‘recreate the Tadcaster of the turn of the 20th century’.

He added: ‘He is a man who has a vision for Tadcaster though nobody is very clear what that vision is. He keeps referring to this vision but nobody fully understands it.

‘We believe that what he wants to do is recreate Tadcaster as it was in the ‘good old’ Edwardian times.

‘People say that he was born a century too late.

‘I would call him an enigma. I think deep down what he wants to achieve would be positive for Tadcaster but it has to be achieved on his terms.

‘There’s no give or take, no halfway house.’

Describing buildings that had lain empty for two decades, Mr Metcalfe suggested Tadcaster was being left behind by nearby towns who have pressed on with home-building and new developments.

He said: ‘It’s sad state of affair for Tadcaster. The town is so strategically well placed. It’s equidistant from Leeds and York. Both of them have got mainline railway stations to London. We’ve got terrific connectively.

 ‘Two miles down the road is the A1(M) which links to the M1 and M62 and we’ve got three national parks in striking distance of us.

‘It’s an extremely desirable area. House prices are artificially high because it’s a case of supply and demand.

‘People who were born and bred in Tadcaster who don’t have well paid jobs find it very difficult to get on the housing ladder because there’s no supply.

‘We can’t build houses because there’s so little land that’s not owned by the brewery.

‘Unless Mr Smith is willing to release land there are very few other options to develop land in Tadcaster.

‘We’ve built probably over the last 20 years on average less than double figures each year. For a market town that is not sustainable. It doesn’t make the schools sustainable because there aren’t the pupil numbers.’

Rumours abound in the town that Mr Smith will retire when he turns 80 in December to spend more time with his wife of almost 40 years, Julia, 68.

Their newly-engaged daughter Maude, 38, lives in south London and runs a successful homeware company.

Younger brother, Samuel, 36, is widely seen as the company’s heir apparent.

Mr Tunney said: ‘He is reportedly retiring when he turns 80 in December. I don’t know if he’s going to stay on the board but I don’t expect that there will be any significant change.

‘We are told that the local council are deep in conversation with the brewery to rejuvenate the town. So there are some signs of encouragement, if those conversations prove fruitful.

‘I would hope that things change for the better but I don’t feel confident.’

Mr Metcalfe added: ‘The Smith legacy at the moment is one of no change. The problem is that market forces do not play their part in Tadcaster. There’s not a diverse mix of landlords, everything is dictated through one landlord.

‘The problem is we live under a feudal system, we have a feudal landlord. The only thing is we don’t do is doff our cap to him.

‘It’s tragic because this man could be the most philanthropic individual going. He could be revered by the community of Tadcaster.’

The local council proposes its vision of Tadcaster in 2040 as ‘transformed, revitalised and reinvigorated by 20 years’ worth of positive development and change’.

‘The currently down-at-heel, dispirited town centre will be a vibrant, visitor-friendly and attractive destination – its many abandoned buildings again in productive use,’ it ambitiously crows.

But many of the local replies to a consultation poured cold water on its blue-sky proposals.

One wrote: ‘I agree with the vision overall but cannot see it being achieved until there is someone at Samuel Smiths Brewery who will not stand in the way of progress.’

Another commented: ‘The aims are good. I hope that the Samuel Smiths stranglehold on the property in Tadcaster will not frustrate progress.’

And a third wrote: ‘Good luck on that. We are back to the Smith family again!’

Tadcaster is known for its three breweries. John Smith’s was set up by members of the same Smith family in the 19th century, though it has long been separate from Sam Smith’s and now part of Heineken.

Molson Coors also has a plant in the town, where ‘Spanish’ beer Madri is brewed.

Samuel Smith Brewery has been contacted for comment.