We are delighted to share the JW Lees results for the year to 31^st March 2026 since we have delivered a record financial performance, achieving record sales of £105.6 million and a record profit before tax of £8.8 million.

These results reflect the hard work, productivity and commitment shown by the various JW Lees Teams at all levels within the business and the focus on JW Lees delivering ‘hospitality with brewing at its heart’ to our guests in our pubs, inns and hotels in the North West as well as our Free Trade and National Accounts customers.

We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has played a part in this landmark set of results which makes JW Lees a special place to work, with our core values of being honest, personal, savvy, together, passionate and proud across our three trading divisions of the Managed House, Pub Partners and Brewing business.

North West brewer and pub retailer JW Lees operates 138 pubs and revenue has increased +5.7% to £105.6m for the year ending 31^st March 2026 (2025: £99.9m), with EBITDA of £12.3m (2025: £10.8m) up 13.9%.  During the year, JW Lees core draught beer sales were up by 3.7% including the highly successful re-launch of Boddingtons Cask Bitter after 12 years of absence which JW Lees now brews and distributes under a license from Budweiser Brewing Group.  JW Lees invested more than £10m in its existing estate of pubs, inns and hotels during the year with more than 20 major refurbishments, as well as the further growth of its Retail Operator format which is now in place at eight of the company’s pubs, as well as running 45 Managed sites and 85 Pub Partner sites.

JW Lees has today announced that it will bring together its Managed Pubs and Inns & Hotels divisions under the leadership of Chris Moulson as Director of Operations in April 2027.  Gary Stafford and Lee Reeves have also been promoted to the newly created positions of Director of Operations – Pub Partners and Director of People to sit on the JW Lees Management Board from October 2026.

Since the year-end JW Lees has also acquired two new pubs, The Royal Oak in Glossop and the Bull’s Head in Poynton, which JW Lees is currently investing before re-openings in July and September.

JW Lees continues to lead its peer group of brewers and pub companies in a challenging business environment, including coming first in the sector ‘KAM 2025 Tenant Track’ survey which benchmarks the UK pub sector, as well as featuring in many awards including the Private Business of the Year 2026, FTSE 2026 High Growth 50 and in 2026 William Lees-Jones was recognised as the Publican Awards Industry Leader of the Year.

On the 2026 results William Lees-Jones said, “It’s fantastic for JW Lees to report a record year both in terms of turnover and profitability.  The long hot summer of 2025 was a great way to start the year and our teams pulled together to drive higher productivity at JW Lees to new levels.  Brewing and hospitality are tough sectors right now and we continue to be impacted by above-inflation rises in labour rates, high business rates and little or no useful support from Government.  We hope that Andy Burnham can change all that, with more favourable policies to help the hospitality sector which will also create new jobs.

For family businesses like JW Lees the changes that Rachel Reeves brought in to change Business Property Relief (BPR) have made things even tougher since we are now having to plan for higher levels of inheritance tax for our family shareholders and this will inevitably lead to reduced investment in the business.  At a time when the UK economy desperately needs growth it seems unfair that the Government has handed competitive advantage to overseas companies and private equity who are not exposed to these costs and this negatively impacts UK family businesses’ ability to invest with family businesses making up more than 50% of all UK private sector jobs.  JW Lees will do whatever it takes to remain a family company as we approach our 200^th anniversary in 2028.”

 

For more information, please contact William Lees-Jones on 07711 227621 or Daisy Whitehouse at Down at the Social PR on 07803 185136

About JW Lees

JW Lees is a seventh-generation family brewery company, founded in 1828 by retired cotton manufacturer John Lees.  JW Lees is based in Middleton Junction in North Manchester and the business comprises JW Lees Brewery, JW Lees Pubs, The Alderley Edge Hotel, The Stanneylands Hotel, The Trearddur Bay Hotel and Willoughby’s Wine Merchants.  JW Lees employs over 1,622 people, 161 at the brewery and site in Middleton Junction and over 1,461 in their 54 managed and retail operator-led pubs, inns and hotels.  JW Lees also lets another 85 pubs to JW Lees Pub Partners.