In 1828 retired cotton manufacturer John Lees had a twinkle in his eye. Or maybe he’d
had a bad pint and wanted to get things right. He bought some land at Middleton
Junction and started making beer there.

His timing was immaculate. This was an age in which working men would drink up to
twelve pints a day, women a little less and even the kids got in on the act. This wasn’t
because water was considered a waste of throat-time – although there was a bit of that
– but because you might catch something extremely nasty from it, like cholera. At the
same time Manchester was becoming the workshop of the world and expanding rapidly.
When demand meets quality at the right price you get success.

In 1876 John Lees grandson John William, took sole control of the brewery and changed
the name to JW Lees & Co. He didn’t just keep his nose stuck in a mash tun either,
finding time to become Mayor of Middleton. Twice. When William, Simon, Christina and
Michael Lees-Jones joined Richard and Christopher at JW Lees in the 1990’s they were
the sixth generation from the founder.

JW Lees is one of the few remaining independent family brewers in the UK. We’ve got
great beers and great pubs. We’ve even got a top-notch wine company called
Willoughbys. This has been around in Manchester since 1850 – almost as long as
JW Lees. We like think of ourselves as old fashioned and cutting edge at the same time.

That way we’re just being ourselves.