J.W. Lees & Co (Brewers) Ltd is a

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...

and pub company in

Middleton, Greater Manchester Middleton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, on the River Irk. It is southwest of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. Middleton had a population of 42,972 at the 2011 Census. It lies on the nort ...

, that has produced

real ale Real ale is the name coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) for ale that is "brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous ca ...

since 1828. The brewery owns and operates 150

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

s, inns and hotels mainly in

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,4 ...

and

North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...

. It also owns

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

distributor Willoughby's.

History

The brewery was formed in 1828 when retired cotton manufacturer John Lees purchased land in Middleton, Lancashire and built Greengate Brewery, from which the company still operates. The company was renamed J.W. Lees & Co. Brewers when his grandson, John William Lees, took over the company in 1876 and was re-incorporated in 1955 when R.W.T. Lees-Jones bought the share capital of the company back under single ownership. The company is still family owned and operated. When William, Simon, Christina, Anna and Michael Lees-Jones joined Richard and Christopher at J.W. Lees in the 1990s, they were the sixth generation from the founder to work in the company. In 2023 Louis Lees-Jones joined the company as the first member of the seventh generation of the family to work at J.W. Lees, opening Founder's Hall in February 2024. In 2004, Greengate Brewery featured in the television show

Most Haunted ''Most Haunted'' is a British paranormal reality television series. ''Most Haunted'' was first shown on Living TV between 2002 and 2010. However, it has since been revived on TV and online, via an official mobile app and YouTube Channel. Pres ...

, and in 2003 HRH

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, a ...

visited to celebrate the brewery's 175th anniversary. In 2011, J.W. Lees announced a new beer, The Governor, in collaboration with chef Marco Pierre White, and in 2018 The Governor Lager was added to the range. Also in 2018, the company announced a collaboration with physicist Brian Cox, an amber ale entitled Cosmic Brew. In 2018, the brewery converted the old boiler house on site into a microbrewery in order to create more experimental small barrelage productions. In 2019, J.W. Lees won Best Brewing Pub company at the publican awards.

Beers

Pint of Manchester Pale Ale next to pump clip

Draught Bottled In addition, J.W. Lees brews

Ansells Ansells Brewery was a regional brewery founded in Aston, Birmingham, England in 1858. It merged with Tetley Walker and Ind Coope in 1961 to form Allied Breweries. The brewery remained in operation until 1981, after which production transferred ...

Mild and

Carlsberg Carlsberg may refer to: Places * Carlsberg (district), a district in Copenhagen, Denmark ** Carlsberg station, its train station * Carlsberg, Germany, a municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany * Carlsberg Fjord, Greenland Other uses * Carlsbe ...

Lager.

Boilerhouse Microbrewery

In 2018, the brewery converted their historic boiler house into a microbrewery. Overseen by head brewer Michael Lees-Jones, the boilerhouse allows small batch productions of more unusual and niche beers. Past productions have included a Vanilla White Stout, Chocolate Orange Mild and Strawberry Milkshake IPA.

Public Houses

J.W. Lees has around 150 public houses, inns and hotels, primarily in residential areas in the North West of England and North Wales. The majority of these are run by tenant landlords, while roughly one third of the houses are managed by the brewery. The core of J.W. Lees' estate is situated in North Manchester and Oldham. This stems from the time of horse drawn dray wagons and how far they might travel in a day. The advent of motor travel allowed the brewery to acquire sites further afield, with the company gradually expanding its pub estate into wider Lancashire, Cheshire, North Wales and Yorkshire. In 2009 J.W. Lees bought ten pubs from

Punch Taverns Punch Pubs & Co is a pub and bar operator in the United Kingdom, with around 1,300 leased pubs. It is headquartered in the traditional brewing centre of Burton upon Trent in Staffordshire. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange as a consti ...

and has continued to steadily grow its estate.

Inns and Hotels

J.W. Lees operates a number of Inns and Hotels including The Alderley Edge Hotel, The Stanneylands Hotel and the Trearddur Bay Hotel.

Willoughby's Wine Merchants

Willoughby's is the name of J.W. Lees' wines and spirits operation. Willoughby's has its own illustrious heritage stemming back to 1850 when it was founded by Frank Stanley Willoughby in Stockport. Willoughby's has grown by acquisition of wine merchants including Thomas Batey and Sons, Duttons of Chester, Scatchards of Liverpool, Yates Brothers of Bolton and Lakeland Vintners in Bowness. In 2012 Willoughby's ceased to operate any retail premises but continues to supply many licensed leisure venues through direct delivery.

References

External links

JW Lees Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jw Lees Brewery Companies based in Rochdale Borough Breweries in England British companies established in 1828 Middleton, Greater Manchester Food and drink companies established in 1828 1828 establishments in England