Brewer blames smoking ban

Middleton brewer JW Lees has blamed another poor summer and the continuing impact of the smoking ban introduced in 2007 for a 34% drop in profits in the year to 31 March 2009.

Managing director William Lees-Jones said it had been a bad year for the industry, which was reflected in the results of both JW Lees’s privately owned contemporaries and in the major plcs in the pubs and brewing industry.

“Draught beer sales dropped by 10% for the third year in a row in November,” he said.

“However, one thing we’ve been able to do as a private business is to help our tenants much earlier when others were still burying their heads in the sand.”

He added that the family shareholders were continuing to invest in the business.

The family-owned company made a pre-tax profit of £3m on sales, up by 10% to £50.1m.

The firm said it is currently in talks to sign new distribution agreements with Carlsberg UK for its draught Carlsberg, Carlsberg Export and San Miguel lager brands.