Vaux Breweries - History

History

The Company was founded by Cuthbert Vaux in Sunderland in 1837 and for nearly 170 years was a major employer in the town.

The company bought the Sheffield-based Wards Brewing Company in 1972, which it retained as a separate subsidiary. In 1981, it attempted to establish a foothold in the U.S. with the purchase of a New York-based family owned brewery, Fred Koch Brewery.

By the 1990s the Vaux Group had expanded into hotels. Despite the brewing business being profitable and an offer to buy it having been received from management, in March 1999 the Board accepted the advice of the Corporate Financier, BT Alex. Brown, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank, and decided to close both breweries. This caused Chairman Sir Paul Nicholson, who disagreed with the closure decision, to resign. The company changed its name to Swallow Group plc, and in July sold its tenanted pub estate to a client of the corporate financier, concentrating on Swallow Hotels business and incorporating the former Vaux-managed pub estate under the Swallow Inns & Restaurants brand. The company was taken over by Whitbread in 2000, following which most of the hotels were rebranded as Marriott and the larger pubs were brought under other national brands, such as Brewers Fayre. Later, 10 hotels unsuitable for Marriott conversions were sold off, forming the nucleus of the current Swallow Hotels chain.

In 2000 two former Vaux directors and the former head brewer formed the Double Maxim Beer Company, buying the beer brands and recipes. They resurrected the former Samson and Double Maxim lines. The Sunderland brewery was later vacated and the buildings were demolished for redevelopment.