Brothers buy award-winning Bowland Brewery

Founded in 2003 by current owner Richard Baker, the brewery is currently housed at Bashall Barn near Bashall Eaves and produces local favourites such as Sawley Tempted, Hen Harrier and Pheasant Plucker.

The Warburtons bring a wealth of experience to their new venture – James is proprietor of James’ Places, the entertainment group which includes The Waddington Arms, Mitton Hall, Eaves Hall and the Shireburn Hotel, while Andrew is owner and manager of The Lower Buck in Waddington.

Andrew commented: “As soon as we knew the brewery might be for sale, we knew we wanted to buy it.

“Bowland beers have been on our bars for almost as long as Richard and his team have been brewing them.”

The brewery will showcase its ales at the Lower Buck, where an on-site shop is also planned for the sale of Bowland’s ales to the public. In the longer term, there are plans afoot for the brewery to move premises to larger accommodation to better suit the growing business.

Bowlan Brewery founder Richard Baker said: “We’ve had a good relationship with James and Andrew for the best part of 11 years – The Waddington Arms was one of our first customers – and I’m delighted that they want to take the Bowland Brewery on and run it in the future.

“The brewery is a great fit with the various James’ Places outlets selling real ale locally, but I know that James and Andrew are also keen to invest in the brand and take our products out to a wider audience, so it will be very exciting to see how things develop in the years to come.”

Andrew confirmed: “We’ve got some big plans for Bowland, but like all big plans, they take some time to work out. In the short term, it’s going to be business as usual for us and the Bowland team – we’re going to concentrate on brewing and delivering great tasting beer for our customers.”