Brewery tapping into the demand for quality beer

Ilkley Brewery was created in spring 2009 by Chris Ives and Stewart Ross when they invested £70,000 of their own money in an eight-barrel brew plant. Now the firm has left Lencia Trading Estate, in Ilkley, where it had the capacity to brew 4,600 pints a week, and moved into a 2,600 sq ft site on Ashlands Road in the town.

The brewery’s beers, which include Mary Jane and Ilkley Best, are now sold in Asda and Booths supermarkets as well as being on 25 permanent pumps in pubs around the region.

The brewery, which has seven staff, turned over £294,000 with pre-tax profits of £46,000 last year, and is so far on course to increase that to £750,000 in 2011.

The move to Ashlands, which means production will reach almost five times the level of 2009, came after the brewery agreed a debt and equity package, in January, from Glentrool Capital Partners, who will also provide corporate support to help grow the company.

The brewery will produce 16,700 pints a week, but a 20-barrel brewing plant means this could be increased to 20,000.

Mr Ross said that changing tastes among drinkers had helped them to grow despite the economic slump.

“The main trend is people moving from large, multi-national brewers to small, locally-produced micro-breweries. Consumers are becoming more aware and educated.

“You spend £2.50 or £3 on a pint, and you want flavour. They (consumers) like to support local firms, which is common across the food and drink sector, and they have more flavour. People are looking for something a bit different and multi-national brewers tend to use ingredients which are not the best.”

Mr Ross, 48, and Mr Ives, 41, had no brewing experience when they set up the firm, so they signed up for a three-day course to learn the details.

They produced their first professional pints only a few months later and turned over £43,000 in 2009, based on about seven months of production.

They also previously helped set up Ilkley Beer Festival through their work with the town’s Round Table

“I think one of the key factors in the brewery’s success is our lifelong passion for beer,” said Mr Ross. “We have always been interested in micro-breweries and the whole process of brewing.”

Their brews have been sold in pubs mainly within a 40-mile radius of Ilkley but deals with distributors such as the Flying Firkin means they have been drunk as far away as Bristol and Northern Scotland. Earlier this year, they also signed a 300-firkin distribution deal with drinks supplier Waverley TBS.

Mr Ross said: “The margin (when dealing with third parties) is not as good as with distributing it ourselves, but in terms of growing awareness of the brand, it works well.”

Last summer, Mary Jane was also sold as a guest beer in the House of Commons’ Strangers’ Bar, which Mr Ross said was down to the intervention of Kris Hopkins, the Conservative MP for Keighley and Ilkley.

The technical skills needed by the two men to make the early-stage business a success were a marked contrast to the expertise required for the commercial property industry.

Mr Ross was formerly regional research manager at global real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle before setting up his own planning and property research firm, and Mr Ives was a director of housebuilder Taylor Woodrow – which went on to merge with George Wimpey – before becoming a self-employed property director.

“We were on a steep learning curve,” Mr Ross said. “We got a lot of help from the man who installed the kit, and then we started experimenting.

“It is really good fun, and moving from the property industry and then creating something which people drink and enjoy is tremendous. There is a lot of camaraderie in the industry, whereas commercial property is more cut-throat.

“We hope we can produce beers which people enjoy and we would like to get our own pub or two – a lot of brewers branch out in that area.”

Bringing brewing back to Ilkley

Chris Ives and Stewart Ross set up Ilkley Brewery in early 2009 after careers in the commercial property industry.

The idea stemmed from a desire to re-establish brewing in the spa town after the disappearance of the original Ilkley Brewery and Aerated Water Company name, in the 1920s.

The new firm made its first brew, Olicana Gold – taken from the Roman name for Ilkley – in May 2009, and the first pint was sold at The Junction pub, in Baildon, in West Yorkshire.

The firm’s other pints include Stout Mary, an oatmeal stout, Ilkley Pale, Ilkley Black and Lotus IPA.

Their ales have won awards at beer festivals in Bradford, Ilkley, Horsforth, Guiseley and Leyburn.