Brewery prepares to grow capacity to produce

The current capacity of the Ilkley-based brewery, which was set up in 2009, is 32,000 pints a week. The firm, which already supplies to Asda, Booths and Morrisons, is also in talks with other major supermarkets, and hopes to see its products sold further afield.

The company, which sources all its fermentation vessels from Sheffield-based firm Moeschle, expects turnover to have doubled during the 2011 financial year.

In 2010, Ilkley Brewery’s turnover was £275,000 with pre-tax profits of £30,000.

Joint managing director Chris Ives, who said the figures for 2011 were still being finalised, said he expected turnover to have more than doubled to around £600,000. The firm is not expecting to make a profit for 2011 as everything has been reinvested into the brewery’s expansion, said Mr Ives. But he said he expects the company will return to profit in 2012.

Mr Ives added: “Forecasting forward to 2012, with the additional brewery capacity, we hope to grow by a further 25 per cent in turnover terms over the course of this year.” He added: “We have had very rapid growth over the last two and a half years since we’ve been actively trading. 2012 is about stabilising the business, it’s about reaching maximum brewing and maximum capacity. We still want to grow but we want to grow at a sensible pace.”

Mr Ives said: “With the addition of the sixth fermentation vessel that will be as big as we can get here.” As far as long-term plans go, Mr Ives said the future may see the firm take on a second site or consider making an acquisition of another company, possibly another brewery.

Ilkley Brewery was one of the winners of the Yorkshire Post’s Local Business Accelerators Competition, backed by the CBI and the Bank of England. John Tordoff, of JCT600, will mentor Ilkley Brewery, which will also receive free advertising with the Yorkshire Post. Mr Ives said he was “amazed and delighted” to have been selected as a winner. He said: “The real benefit is being able to advertise with the Yorkshire Post. We are still only two and a half years old and the number of people who don’t know we exist is astonishing.” He added: “We are also looking forward to working with someone who has been there and done it like John Tordoff.”

In terms of Ilkley Brewery’s product portfolio, Mr Ives said the plan is to introduce seasonal specials into the range. He said: “We are now relatively confident that what we are making is being well received. 2012 is about pushing the boundaries a bit.” He said the aim is to become “a bit more experimental”.

There are three key growth areas for the business, explained Mr Ives. He said: “Currently, we supply cask ale to pubs across the North of England, concentrating on West and North Yorkshire particularly. A key growth area is to expand that network of pubs we supply regularly outside the boundaries of Yorkshire.”

The brewery also works with wholesale partners who buy beer from it in bulk. Mr Ives said: “Part of the expansion plans is to get the beer further afield, to London, the South East and South West, where we have little exposure at the moment.”

Ilkley Brewery also has plans to to increase the sales of its bottled beers to supermarkets. It mainly sells into the Yorkshire stores of Asda, Booths and Morrisons.

But Mr Ives said: “We want to work with those stores to get our beer across the country ideally. We would also hope to have another supermarket partner this year.”

Total head count at the brewery is currently eight, including the three directors, Mr Ives, Stewart Ross and Richard Shelton, who together own the majority of the business.

Over the next 12 months, Mr Ives said he expects to take on at least one or two extra people on the production and delivery side of the business.

In January 2011, the company secured a debt and equity package from Glentrool Capital Partners LLP.

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