please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article contains wording that promotes the subject in a subjective manner without imparting real information . please remove or replace such wording and instead of making proclamations about a subject s importance use facts and attribution to demonstrate that importance . february 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . february 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message daniel thwaites plc type plc industry hospitality founded 1807 headquarters blackburn lancashire england uk key people daniel thwaites founder anne yerburgh chairman products food and beverage revenue 162.7 m 2007 1 website http www.danielthwaites.co.uk thwaites brewery is a regional brewery founded in 1807 by daniel thwaites in blackburn lancashire england . the firm still operates from its original town centre site although the original brewery was demolished in 2011 3 and the majority of its beer business was sold to marston s in march 2015 . 4 in 1999 the mitchell brewery in lancaster closed down and was bought in part by thwaites . lancaster bomber has since been available from thwaites public houses after being acquired in the takeover . thwaites also has a hotels division which is called shire hotels . lancaster bomber is now brewed by marston s as is wainwright the other top selling thwaite s beer . 5 the company has over 350 pubs in the north of england reaching from the north lakes area down to solihull & leicestershire . the brewery invested heavily in pasteurised keg beers especially those powered by nitro in the 1990s . 6 however it is now working to increase the market for its cask beers . 7 thwaites unveiled a new craft brewery in december 2011 named crafty dan . 8 contents 1 history 1.1 establishment 1.2 expansion into the 20th century 1.3 shire horses 1.4 recent history 2 cask ales 3 awards 3.1 beer awards 3.1.1 european beer star award 2011 3.1.2 international beer challenge 2011 3.1.3 design effectiveness awards 2012 3.2 pub awards 3.2.1 great british pub awards 2011 3.3 business awards 3.3.1 14 lancashire telegraph awards 2011 4 lancashire county cricket club sponsorship 5 logo 6 references 7 external links history edit thwaites brewery in blackburn town centre . establishment edit local brewer and pub retailer daniel thwaites has been based in lancashire since 1807 . born in 1777 daniel thwaites first began brewing in blackburn in 1807 when he joined the eanam brewery in partnership with local businessmen edward duckworth and william clayton . at the age of 31 daniel married edward s daughter betty who later inherited her father s share of the company following his death in 1822 . in 1824 the brewery became the sole property of thwaites when william clayton sold his remaining share of the cony to daniel . daniel and betty thwaites went on to have twelve children four sons and eight daughters . daniel thwaites jnr was born in 1817 the sixth of their twelve children . daniel thwaites jnr and his brothers john and thomas later inherited the brewery following the death of their father daniel thwaites snr in 1843 . the decade of the 1850s was one of growth for the brewery and increasing prosperity for the thwaites partners . thomas left the partnership and in 1858 following the earlier death of his mother and the retirement of his other brother john daniel thwaites jnr became the sole owner of the brewery . one year later he married eliza amelia gregory and they had a son edward who died in infancy and daughter elma amy thwaites . the plough at eaves a thwaites pub . the official announcement of the dissolution of the partnership published in the london gazette on 25 february 1859 stated that it was by mutual consent . daniel who ran the brewery with the help of manager joseph smith and property adviser henry gornall had now been a partner for fifteen years . during this period he expanded the firm and shown himself to be an astute ambitious and experienced brewer . meanwhile following the purchase of the snig brook brewery in 1863 the brewery continued to prosper and develop in size . during this period eanam brewery expanded production to provide 100 000 barrels a year by 1878 . the business also had to adapt to various pieces of legislation introduced by gladstone s liberal government . the 1869 wine and beer house act gave licensing power back to the magistrates and was intended as a measure of control over the more unsavoury beer shops . it was followed by the intoxicating liquor licensing act of 1872 which introduced higher licence fees licensing inspectors reduced opening hours restrictions on the sale of spirits to those apparently under the age of 16 and increased penalties for licensing offences . the drink issue was of great importance to daniel not only as a brewer but also as a conservative politician . he went on to become the mp for blackburn from 1875 until 1880 and became well known nationally . locally he was described as a good landlord who owned some of the best public houses in blackburn . having become a wealthy man daniel thwaites jnr died in 1888 leaving his only daughter elma thwaites and her husband robert yerburgh to inherit the brewery . expansion into the 20th century edit by 1897 thwaites had grown enough to become a limited company but the real expansion came after the first world war . in 1923 thwaites bought the james pickup wines & spirits company and then henry shaw & co which owned the new brewery in salford . in 1925 thwaites began bottling its beers and in 1927 they bought the fountain free brewery . in 1946 elma yerburgh died leaving trusted colleague albert whittle to look after the brewery whilst her grandson john was away at war . in 1946 and 1956 respectively the brewery purchased the bury brewing company and the preston brewery company and in 1966 the eanam brewery was extended and renamed daniel thwaites the star brewery . during the 1960s thwaites public houses were in abundance across the town and daniel thwaites ales had become popular throughout east lancashire . 1966 saw the opening of the new 5.5 m brewery and brewhouse followed in 1972 by a new 3m bottling plant considered to be the last word in bottling complexes . huge numbers of people and group tours came to see the brave new world of brewing at the new star brewery . the 70s and 80s saw the purchase of yates & jackson of lancaster and thwaites winning the first of its two champion beer of britain awards bringing national recognition to the family brewer . throughout this time john yerburgh elma yerburgh s grandson was the brewery s chairman and he saw his great great grandfather s business grow and flourish to become a well respected regional brewer . in 2002 john s wife mrs ann yerburgh became the brewery chairman and her passion for brewing award winning beers in blackburn remains as strong as for the thwaites forefathers back in 1807 . john died in june 2014 . 9 shire horses edit the sound that was continuously heard in blackburn throughout the 19th century was the clattering of horses hooves along the cobbled streets . the majority of these were work horses . stable lads would lead the thwaites horses out of the stables in syke street across the road until the end of the 19th century when the stables moved to the brewery site and into the brewery yard where they waited patiently for their carts and drays to be loaded with the day s deliveries . these gentle giants were to become a familiar sight in blackburn for many years . in the 1920s however most breweries decided to put their shire horses out to grass and switch to motor transport . in 1927 the last of the thwaites shire horses were led out of the brewery for the last time . by the 1950s the shire horse had practically ceased to exist . but in 1957 an enterprising young manager called david kay of thwaites soft drinks department wanted to bring the shire dray horses back . two years later in 1959 he got his wish and was allowed to introduce two dray horses to the brewery s local route . he was convinced that the dray horses would not only attract good publicity for thwaites but would be financially advantageous against the backdrop of rising fuel costs . on may day in 1960 the first two shire horses were led out of the smart new thwaites stables . the return of horse transport was a great success and the people of blackburn soon grew used to sharing the magnificent brewery horses with the rest of the country . recent history edit 2010 marked fifty years of the reintroduction of horse drawn deliveries after they ended in the 1920s . over the years the fame of the shires has spread throughout the country embodying the traditional values integral to daniel thwaites heritage . to celebrate the anniversary a commemorative sculpture featuring three of the multi award winning shire horses in a unicorn configuration was commissioned . the daniel thwaites stables have enjoyed great success over the last 50 years . in a nine year period the shires have won the world renowned national championship seven times which is the ultimate achievement and recognition for a shire horse and its team . further success has been enjoyed at the royal show which the shires have won five times in the pairs . they won the pairs singles and team events at the great yorkshire show and have enjoyed further wins at every major county show throughout the uk . the stables team includes head horse keeper charles beardmore who has been in the position for an impressive 40 years . 2010 also marked the 25th anniversary of the shire horses return being honoured by the mayor of blackburn in 1985 for their commitment to the town of blackburn as ambassadors . this was the first time ever that such an honour had been awarded to horses . picture of a present day thwaites pub with the new thwaites logo thwaites started with ten public houses in 1807 . based at the star brewery in blackburn thwaites now owns an estate of around 350 pubs a small but growing group of characterful coaching inns known as thwaites inns of character and six four star full service regional hotels and spas which trade under the shire hotels banner . in addition thwaites supplies a full range of drinks to many independently owned pubs clubs and restaurants in the north of england and beyond and a wide range of bottled beers to most major supermarkets . having reached a historic milestone in 2007 celebrating 200 years of brewing excellence thwaites announced that it continued to look forward to a future that will continue to build upon the ideals and beliefs born 200 years ago when daniel thwaites first began the northern brewery . however there were many turbulent changes in following years qv the family tradition continues to this present day . ann yerburgh is chairman son in law richard bailey is chief executive officer and arabella yerburgh is a non exec director . in 2011 thwaites announced plans to build a new state of the art brewery . the move which is anticipated to take place in three to four years time will improve the brewers operational efficiency and signals