Oliver Robinson, Chris Hopkin, William Lees-Jones, Richard Kershaw

Oliver Robinson director, Frederic Robinson, Chris Hopkins managing director, Hydes Brewery, William Lees-Jones managing director, JW Lees Richard Kershaw chief executive, Joseph Holt (new entries)

Why they are on the list:

The four head up Manchester's famous clutch of independent family brewers who can all trace their origins way back to the 1800s. All four are substantial brewers of cask ales, supplying their own tied estates totalling almost 800 pubs and a flourishing freetrade market.

What the past year has held:

Despite difficult trading conditions Lees and Robinsons proved they were ready to seize their opportunity to buy up more pubs, both via package acquisitions of off-loaded Punch sites. Hydes unveiled a new £3m superpub in Cheshire while Holt continued to streamline its retail estate, putting a new emphasis on food in many houses besides pushing sales of its bottled ales through the off-trade.

Challenges ahead:

The resilient cask market should give all four the chance to keep the mash tuns bubbling, but nobody pretends the next 12 months will be plain sailing. Sizeable proportions of their estates are in struggling north-west towns where trade will again be difficult, but once more the brewers will look to a quality product coming out of their brewhouses to see them through.