Burnley brewery crowns comeback with Sovereign overseas deal

Moorhouse’s in Burnley has teamed up with Blackburn-based Sovereign Beverage Company to take the likes of Black Cat, Premier, Blonde Witch and their new Ice Witch to Scandinavia, Canada, South America and the Far East.

The two East Lancashire outfits have already secured sales in Finland for the Accrington Road brewery, and the link-up has initially been secured over three years.

Moorhouse’s, which recently announced it had returned to profit after a turnaround led by managing director Lee Williams, has also appointed another East Lancs firm as a future partner.

Bacup’s James Labels & Supplies will be printing all bottle labels for their ranges.

Mr Williams, who has previously worked at Thwaites and Marstons, said: “As a business, we are not just proud of the beer we brew but also working with local businesses, spending over £600k with Lancashire companies alone.

“Increasing our exports is a key part of our growth strategy and to have the team at Sovereign Beverage, who are experts in their field and also just down from the road from us, gives us confidence we will see growth in overseas markets in the years to come.”

Craig Johnstone, head of sales at Sovereign, added: “We are delighted to be working with Moorhouse’s Brewery as it is such an iconic name - both here in the north west and across the country.

“It has a fantastic product range as well as a pedigree and history that we are sure will resonate with the importers and distributors in our target territories who are always looking for something new, unique or that has a real point of difference.”

The Telegraph revealed last year how Moorhouse’s had gone from a £275,000 pre-tax loss in 2018 to a £37,000 profit in its latest figures.

It was acknowledged that while Black Cat was still among their best-known beers, the likes of Blonde Witch and White Witch had been proving more popular with younger drinkers. The brewery has also been experimenting with one-off ‘M’ ales.