JW Lees, the Manchester-based brewer and pub operator, is set for an expansion drive this year after securing £10m in additional funding from RBS and having reported a 40% rise in pre-tax profit to £4.9m in the year to 31 March. Turnover was also up 5.3% to £56.3m.
In the same year the firm disposed of its Lakeland Vintners business and bought the Turnpike pub-restaurant in Rishworth, West Yorkshire.
The 142-strong tenanted pub company aim to open 10 new pubs in 2013, including a second Duttons café-bar on the site of Prezzo’s Pizza Porto unit in Albert Square, Manchester — it has applied for a licence but has yet to agree terms of the lease. The first Duttons is located in Chester.