The last days of Sunderland's Vaux Brewery as we mark 25th anniversary of closure
A sad day in Sunderland history happened 25 years ago.
It was on July 2, 1999 that Vaux closed and the Sunderland Echo got these views of staff as they left for one last time.
Managing director Frank Nicholson made it his personal mission to thank every member of staff for all their hard work.
The signs came down
Just days after it closed, the brewery's signs came down and by September that year, the final throes of the business were marked with an auction of Vaux property.
Thousands of people flocked to the site for the auction of transport and equipment.
Hundreds of jobs were lost
Vaux had provided Sunderland with jobs for 162 years and hundreds of posts were lost when it finally closed.
Despite the company's brewing arm still making a sizeable £50million annual profit, financiers in the City of London had advised the firm to cease production and concentrate its efforts on its estate of pubs and hotels.
Emotional scenes
After a prospective management buyout was turned down, around 700 jobs were lost amid emotional scenes as the brewery closed.
Make sure you watch our video tribute to a huge part in Sunderland’s past.
And if you worked there, share your memories by emailing [email protected]