Greene King to teach all 38,000 staff about its role in historic trans-Atlantic slave trade

Christopher Hope
·2 min read
Greene King
Greene King

Britain's biggest pubs company is to teach its 38,000 staff about its role in the historic transatlantic slave trade after it was highlighted by The Daily Telegraph.

Greene King, which has more than 3,000 pubs, said its historic link to slavery is "inexcusable" and is also teaming up with the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool to "educate people about the shocking human exploitation which took place."

The Telegraph disclosed in June that Greene King was one of 11 UK businesses that benefited directly or indirectly from the compensation.

Until then Greene King had not mentioned its past links to slavery on the company's website, although it was set out in a 1983 book of the company's history.

Greene King's founder Benjamin Greene was one of 47,000 people who benefited from the UK Government's decision to compensate Britons when slavery was abolished in 1833. Greene himself received nearly £500,000 in today's money when he surrendered rights to three plantations in the West Indies, out of a total pot worth £2.4billion, allowing for inflation, according to a database run by University College London.

Greene King said that all of its 38,000 employees will be able to take part in online workshops on "Understanding Transatlantic Slavery." The company is also backing the Black History Month programme at Liverpool's International Slavery Museum as part of the company's wider "inclusion and diversity" programme.

In August Greene King signed a five year deal with The Prince’s Trust to create 1,000 jobs for young people to boost the percentage of young staff from minority ethnic backgrounds from a quarter to 40 per cent by 2025.

Nick Mackenzie, Greene King's chief executive, said: "It is inexcusable that one of our founders profited from slavery and while that was nearly 200 years ago we can't pretend it didn't happen. We want to educate and work with the International Slavery Museum to learn more about the past and better inform our choices for the future."

Richard Benjamin, the head of the museum, said: "This is a positive step. Reparative justice must acknowledge past abuses and respond to their continuing legacies.  We hope that more institutions and businesses in the UK with the same historical links to slavery can be equally as transparent about their origins."