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127but increased again in 1938 and was rebranded Double Maxim to mark the change.1As well as brewing the beer the company owned many pubs throughout the region and beyond. In the 1960s Vaux diversified and moved into hotels. And it was this expansion, ironically, that would ultimately spell the end for the core business of brewing. In 1999 the parent group decided that while Vaux and its sister brewery Wards (based in Sheffield) were still profitable, they wanted to concentrate on hotels and pubs where returns were larger. And so the decision was taken to close 1 %u201820 years since the last dregs were drained out of Vaux brewery%u2019, Northern Echo 16th March 2019the breweries.2This was incredibly controversial- the chairman Paul; Nicholson resigned and a protest was organised during Sunderland%u2019s home game with West Brom, where the fans held up red cards on the 10th minute. It was reported that the players had even asked to take part, but were denied on account of having a football match to win.The protests were to no avail though, nor was an attempted management buyout, which was rejected because the board thought they could make 2 Pike, A (2006), %u2018Shareholder value%u2019 versus the regions: the closure of the Vaux Brewery in Sunderland. Journal of Economic Geography, 6(2), 201-222.Vaux drays making their deliveries. Credit: Sunderland Antiquarian Society