a drive to bring all parts of the business under a single brand, it was renamed Thwaites brewery. In January 2012, Thwaites agreed to purchase the free trade interests of Hydes Brewery. In January 2014, the company made national headlines. Thwaites' proposed closure of its Star Brewery and 60 brewing redundancies led to staff temporarily switching off the H, I and E in the company's brewery sign to spell "Twats". Thwaites' inability to select an alternative site for its brewery and to conclude a deal to sell its site to Sainsbury's received criticism in many areas including the local press and brewing industry. The Tandleman blog suggested that apart from the beers produced in the renowned Crafty Dan craft brewery, Thwaites would contract out production of its beers permanently to other breweries. This proved prescient; the core beers were contracted out to Marston's and the latter company bought the top two (Wainwright's and Lancaster Bomber) and the bulk of Thwaites' beer business in March 2015 for £25.1m. Marstons will continue to supply Thwaites pubs with beer under a long-term contract whilst Thwaites will continue to produce (much reduced) volumes for its own pubs by retaining its microbrewery facility. Cask ales Thwaites produce a wide range of cask ales including the core range and limited edition Signature Ale range which was launched in 2011. 2012 saw the introduction of the Quarterly Favorites range featuring the four most popular beers from the 2011 Signature Ale range. In March 2015 Marston's bought all rights to Wainwright and Lancaster Bomber and a short-term license to use the Thwaite's brand. Owned by Marston's. Formerly sold under the Thwaites brand by Marstons but Thwaites branding discontinued 2016 Logo The Thwaites logo has undergone several changes since the brewery's foundation. The traditional logo was simplified to a gold and red emblem featuring shire horses on the top and remained in use until May 2011. The newly adopted logo is based on vintage designs from the 19th century, but for the first time in the brewery's history, the famous shire horses which have been part of the emblem for almost 200 years have been dropped from its design. References External links History of brewery Companies based in Blackburn History of Blackburn with Darwen Breweries in England British companies established in 1807 Food and drink companies established in 1807 1807 establishments in England