They were offered round the industry and there are considerably worse things which could have happened to them than being taken over by Greene King.

Greene King enjoyed strong trading over the Christmas period as more people chose to eat out on the big day.

Shares in Greene King were up 11.25p at 421.25p in early trading.

Greene King has retained the strain of yeast first used in 1896.

Greene King is looking forward to a merry Christmas but expects more challenging times in 2011.

Greene King is performing increasingly well into an increasingly tough trading environment.

In the market Greene King bubbled up 23.7p to 425p.

The new owners sold most of the pubs on to Greene King in 2002.

Shares in Greene King closed down 12p at 371.5p.

Despite its recent strong performance, Greene King also struck a cautious note about the future.