FDBusiness.com

UK regional brewer and pub operator Daniel Thwaites has purchased a site to house its new brewery, head office and a visitor centre, and will be looking to secure planning consent over the coming months to start a build programme early in 2015. Thwaites’ new brewery and head office will be located on the A59, at the foot of the Ribble Valley in Lancashire. The site is close to Thwaites’ traditional home – the Star Brewery in Blackburn.

Richard Bailey, CEO of Daniel Thwaites, says: “Our investment in the new brewery will allow us to brew a full range of our cask, seasonal and craft ales and will allow our brewers and team to be completely focused on the quality and consistency of our beers. We remain committed to safeguarding our brewing heritage, and newer, more efficient and more flexible equipment will help our team to continue to brew our old friends, but also to develop new and interesting beers.

He adds: “It has always been hugely important to us that we stay close to Blackburn, which has been our home for over 200 years, and we have been very aware that we would like to safeguard jobs in the area, so I am very pleased that we have been able to find a site that is only a few miles away, where we will continue to employ over 200 people in our head office across our brewery, pubs, inns and hotels. Our distribution team of 120 people will be staying where they are at our existing depot in Blackburn for the foreseeable future.”

In the year ended at 31 March 2014, Daniel Thwaites increased group turnover by 2% to £138.7 million and Operating profit (before exceptional items) fell 2% to £10.3 million.