Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg pledged to revitalise northern industry on a visit to Moorhouse’s Brewery in Burnley.
In the Lancashire town to support the parliamentary candidate Coun Gordon Birtwhistle- also leader of Burnley Borough Council – the MP for Sheffield Hallam revealed the party’s regional plans while at the award winning brewery to witness its success.
Despite the recession 145 year old Moorhouse’s has recently commenced work on a £3.5m expansion to treble production capacity for the internationally acclaimed‘Pendle Witch’ ales and double the workforce. The development will include a training school and visitor centre, which will help regenerate the former mill town.
Speaking to Granada TV, local radio and regional newspaper journalists, Mr Clegg said that successive goverments had abandoned northern towns,such as Burnley, once famous for their industries. He pledged that the Lib-Dems would bring in policies to rebuild the industrial heartlands with tax reforms, education and training and a £3.5bn economic stimulus to create new green jobs and help entreprenuers with local enterprise funds.
Lib-Dem leader Nick Clegg raises a toast to Moorhouse's with Coun Gordon Birtwhistle (left) and brewery MD David Grant (right).
“If we have learnt anything from the financial crisis, it must surely be that we need to rebalance the economy away from financial wizardry and towards the production of goods and services that people actually need,” he said.
After sampling a pint of Premier Bitter in the General Scarlett brewery tap (see photograph) he added: “It was a real honour to be shown around a brewery as old and distinguished as Moorhouse’s. Hearing from David Grant about the plans to expand and open a new multi-million brewing complex showed that despite all the negative news, there are still good stories out there. Liberal Democrats in Parliament are at the forefront of speaking up for brewers and businesses more generally in Westminster, so it was extremely useful to hear first-hand about the industry issues.”
Moorhouse’s managing director David Grant said: “We worked closely with the council’s business support team to help make our expansion plans a reality.This visit helped to highlighted how small businesses can succeed despite the economic problems. It also provided an opportunity to express our concerns to Nick Clegg on behalf of the industry.
“It is clear that he is very supportive of craft brewing. He recognises that it is a sector helping to keep the manufacturing skills base alive in many northern towns. We spoke of the issues for the trade such as the advantages of the tie for independent brewers and how we need a level playing field with the supermarket giants of the off-trade – something he said he will certainly keep his eye on.”
Moorhouse’s is the North West’s leading dedicated cask-conditioned ale brewer and has won more awards than any other brewer of comparable size. The new brewery will produce some 1,000 barrels a week while still using traditional brewing skills.