Vaux Breweries was established in the town centre in the 1880s and for 110 years was a major employer. The brewery was finally closed in July 1999. Vaux in Sunderland and Wards Brewing Company in Sheffield had been part of the Vaux Group, when both breweries closed the group started to concentrate on its hotels which were in The Swallow Group. In the autumn of 2000 even this was taken over by Whitbread PLC.