1807 – 1888
A tale of two Daniels

 

Daniel Thwaites, a farmer’s son from Matterdale in the Lake District, became managing partner of a small brewery in the Eanam area of Blackburn in 1807. It was the town’s first commercial brewery, and the ambitious new boss wasted no time expanding its operations to meet the growing thirst of local cotton-mill workers. He bought pubs, increased production and became one of the first small-town Northern brewers to take a chance on porter, a profitable hoppy black beer from the cities. Daniel lived next door to the brewery until the end of his days, alongside Betty, his wife, who bore 11 children. Upon his death in 1843, his sons Thomas, Daniel Jnr and John inherited the Eanam brewery. It became Daniel Thwaites & Company when Thomas left to make (and then lose) a fortune in the cotton trade. Daniel Jnr modernised the business, introducing Thwaites’ first best bitter – a bright, amber ale in the style of the fashionable bright, hopped ales from Burton on Trent. After John stepped aside for a life of leisure, Daniel Jnr continued to expand the brewery and its pub estate, becoming a substantial landowner and, eventually, a Tory MP (from 1875-1880). He died in 1888 at his Scottish estate, Barwhillanty, leaving everything to his only living child, Elma Yerburgh, with instructions that the brewery, pubs and hotels be sold.

1888 – 1946
Blackburn’s Lady Bountiful

 

Elma Yerburgh, née Thwaites, was on her honeymoon, aged 24, when her father died. The wife of an MP, Robert Yerburgh, she was destined for the genteel existence of a political wife in London. Instead, she defied expectations – and her father’s directions – by choosing not to sell the Eanam brewery. After devoting the early years of marriage to bringing up two sons, Elma oversaw the incorporation of Daniel Thwaites and Co as a limited liability company in 1897, steering it through growth and modernisation in a time of social and political turbulence. Thwaites endured two world wars and the Great Depression in her capable hands, while she suffered personal tragedy – her younger child, Guy Yerburgh, died from an infected mosquito bite, aged 33. Revered as a savvy businesswoman, Elma was also loved for her benevolence and empathy. Each Christmas she gave every Thwaites employee a joint of beef or a turkey (it later became a cash gift dubbed the ‘Yerburgh pound’) and she was the first woman to receive the Freedom of the Borough of Blackburn in recognition of her support for local causes. These included the Blackburn Royal Infirmary, of which she was president for 11 years. The town remembered Elma as its ‘Lady Bountiful’ after she died in 1946. She left her shares in Daniel Thwaites to Guy’s children, her beloved grandsons John and Oscar.

1946 – 2010
The incredible vision of Mr John

 

Captain John Yerburgh was returning home from Germany to be demobbed when he learned that his grandmother had died. Brought up in London, he’d visited her provincial brewery only once, though he knew it was Elma’s wish he become a director. He joined the board of Daniel Thwaites after reading Economics at Magdalene College, Cambridge, becoming chairman in 1966 – the same year Thwaites opened Star Brewery, with the nine-storey tower-brewhouse that would dominate Blackburn’s skyline for decades to come. The company doubled its pub estate during John’s chairmanship, but in a period of fervent consolidation in the industry, John resisted the urge to merge, determined that Thwaites would remain an independent family business. Drinking habits were changing (the Breathalyser was introduced in 1967), prompting John and his trusted managers to diversify into hotels. They launched subsidiary company Shire Inns in 1980, opening their first new-built hotel in 1985 on the edge of the Lake District. With its large indoor pool, health club and beauty spa, North Lakes was a true original, creating a template for more new hotels between 1990 and 2002. “He had this incredible vision of life,” said Shire’s first general manager Ian Harkness of his employer, known affectionately across the company as Mr John. John retired as chairman in 1993, remaining president of Daniel Thwaites until his death in 2014.

1973 – present
Crafting a modern business 

 

Annie Maclaren caught John Yerburgh on the telephone as he was setting off on a Himalayan expedition. The answer to the question he’d been asking was “Yes” – but he must return safely! They married on his return in 1973, starting a wonderful partnership both in marriage and business. Ann Yerburgh joined the Thwaites board three months after their wedding. By 2000, having raised their family, she was eager to continue John’s legacy as chairman. Under her leadership Thwaites extended its pub estate and won awards for its cask ales. By 2006 it was known as “the giant of the North”, with Ann admired across the industry as “a force to be reckoned with”. But as the business celebrated its bicentenary in 2007, global financial crisis loomed. While shepherding Thwaites through a deep recession, Ann, a formidable pragmatist, looked to the company’s craft roots to inspire a new direction. She appointed her son-in-law Rick Bailey, a former City accountant and Thwaites director, as chief executive in 2011. Together they pivoted away from industrial brewing to take a more bespoke approach to hospitality. They streamlined the pub estate and nurtured a collection of one-off historic properties, enhancing Thwaites’ renowned Northern welcome by adding great food and lovely accommodation. In 2018, after closing the Star Brewery and selling the wholesale beer business, Thwaites opened a new craft brewery in the Ribble Valley.