Article written in 1997:
Bridge continues its partnership with Daniel Thwaites. The award-winning brewery has come up trumps in declaring a continuing association as sponsors of the Blackpool Easter Festival. Brewery representatives were delighted by the success of the first festival, staged last spring at the north's seaside capital. No-one was more pleased than Denis Robson, a man with a foot in both camps. The chairman of Daniel Thwaites and a board director of the EBU, he is a bridge Grand Master. Last year he suggested that the Easter Festival might well prove a useful marketing vehicle for the famous Lancashire-based brewery. But the final decision to sponsor, both in 1996 and again this year, was left to others. "I put the idea forward, but the marketing people had the final say. There is obviously financial backing involved, and as a company we need to assess the overall value of any event to which we put our name and extend our backing. "But the Blackpool Festival was super in 1996, and I believe it will be even better this year. Over the three days (March 28-30) we anticipate that some 600 people will play an active part, and that the standard of bridge will again be very high."
Mr Robson has been a self-confessed bridge addict since being introduced to the game as a young boy. A regular in the Lancashire county side, a Gold Cup finalist and with an England international cap to his name (Denis played for England against Northern Ireland in the Camrose on 21st February 1976 partnering Bernard Goldenfield), he is a worthy Grand Master.
An accountant by profession, he has been brewery chairman for three years, having joined the Daniel Thwaites board of directors in 1980. He is looking forward with relish to the Easter Festival at the Stakis Hotel (formerly the Pembroke): "As a northerner, it is very pleasing to have such a major congress in Lancashire. It is a national green point event, giving it particular significance on the bridge calendar."
The EBU appreciates the brewery's support. Said EBU Marketing Manager Sue Maxwell: "We are very fortunate to have a company as widely known and respected as Daniel Thwaites as Easter Festival sponsors. We look forward to a long and mutually rewarding association."
Camrose: 1976 (England team)
Gold Cup: 1983 (2nd)
National Swiss Teams winner: 1973
Manchester Championship Pairs for the Ben Franks Trophy winner: 1975
Tollemache Cup winner: 1975