In 2000, Bass sold its brewing operations to the Belgian brewer Interbrew who were ordered by the Competition Commission to sell Stones.

It was originally available across the south Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, with distribution extended to the rest of the north of England in 1977, and nationwide from 1979, accompanied by a considerable marketing push.

Since the withdrawal of the majority of marketing support by Bass in 1997 in favour of Worthington, the beer has experienced a marked decline in sales volumes, although it remains among the twenty highest selling ales in the United Kingdom.

Watts died in May 1854 aged 46, and two years later Stones purchased his share of the business from his former partner's brother.

[9][10] Stones died in 1894, and he left the brewery to his cashier, James Haynes, and Richard Wigfull, a corn miller, as tenants in common.

[11] William Stones became a limited company in 1895 with £275,000 of capital (£40,122,748 in 2025 adjusted for inflation)[12] and had by this time grown to become one of the largest businesses in Sheffield, with a tied estate of 84 pubs primarily in its home city and Chesterfield.

[16] Stones acquired the fourteen tied houses of Chambers' Brunswick Brewery in Sheffield, after that company entered into liquidation in 1910, for £28,200 in 1911.

In 1959, William Stones paid £100,000 (£2,938,668 in 2025 adjusted for inflation)[12] for Ward & Sons of Swinton, a family-run local bottler of beer and mineral water.

[23] The acquisition allowed Stones to bottle national beers such as Bass and Guinness for itself, rather than relying on contractors.

[32] By 1967 Bass had built up a 14 per cent stake in the company, and in 1968 they purchased William Stones for £9 million (£197,152,712 in 2025 adjusted for inflation)[12][33] The friendly takeover was financed by an exchange of stock.

[34][35] The company had a tied estate of 257 public houses and 70 off-licences, located mainly in the south of Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, as well as a substantial free trade business.

[3] The Campaign for Real Ale blamed the brewery's closure on Bass' failure to promote their cask conditioned products.

In 2000, Bass sold its brewing interests, including their breweries and the Stones brand to the Belgian brewer Interbrew.

The cask product was initially contract brewed at the Highgate Brewery in Walsall, West Midlands, before moving to Everards of Leicester in 2005.

Stones Bitter has suffered a decline in sales since the closure, and a member of the Bass board of directors that took the decision to close the brewery has admitted that, given the subsequent resurgence in golden ales and local provenance in beer, the decision to close the brewery was the wrong one.

By 1895 the brewery was equipped with "an expensive plant...excellent stores and cellars, spacious covered and open yards, offices, stabling [and] workshops.

A famous major television campaign ran nationally from 1983 until 1991 with the tagline "(Wherever you may wander) there's no taste like Stones" and starred Tony Barton and Michael Angelis.

In 1991 a special bottled beer was produced when Sheffield Wednesday reached the finals of the Football League Cup.

[63] Two thousand bottles of Stones Centenary Ale were produced in 1995, celebrating 100 years of rugby league.

[63] In summer 2007, Everards brewed a one-off cask conditioned Stones Pure Gold (4.1 per cent ABV) golden ale, and in 2011 four cask conditioned sports themed Stones branded ales were made available throughout the first half of the year, brewed at William Worthington's Brewery in Burton upon Trent.