> Family-run Manchester brewery, JW Lees, has announced a record year of sales following its annual business conference.
JW lees has reported stellar financial performance with sales reaching £105.6m for the year ending 31st March 2026, a 5.7% increase from 2025 (£99.9m). The results reflect the commitment and hard work off its dedicated staff who continue to deliver ‘hospitality with brewing at its heart’.
Despite the currently challenging environment for the hospitality sector, JW Lees has continued to celebrate wins from 2025/2026 including a 3.7% rise in core draught beer sales and investment in two new pubs.
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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 200th anniversary in 2028.”
