A start-up brewery plans to double its output and further extend its sales despite losing almost all its bar and pub orders at the start of the first lockdown.
Round Corner Brewing, in Melton Mowbray, launched two years ago and makes a range of beers including session IPA, pale ale, lager and even a barrel aged black lager.
The business also has a taproom at Melton Market – open on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays – selling beers to drink in or to take-away, and has picked up plaudits at the 2020 World Beer Awards.
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Management said they were now able to expand thanks to a grant from Leicestershire’s Business Gateway Growth Hub.
Between them, founders Colin Paige, a master brewer, and Combie Cryan have 25 years of business and brewing experience.
They first talked about launching a brewery together when they met in New Zealand in 2005, and the business went live in December 2018.
The pair stepped up sales to shops and supermarkets, and online, when 海角视频 pubs and bars were closed by the first lockdown.
Following on from that the team needed a big investment so they could start canning their beers in-house, and increase volume while lowering the cost per unit so that they could meet the bulk buying needs of big supermarkets.
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Ann Cook, Business Gateway adviser and Rita Ram, Business Gateway support officer, helped them secure a £25,000 business growth grant to put towards an in-house canning line.
They were also able invest in a can wrap-around labeller and date-coding inkjet, along with other kit, making a total investment of close to £200,000.
Combie, who ism brewery chief executive, said: “The canning line marks a pivot in our business away from a focus solely on draft beer sold in pubs and into cans sold in retail outlets.
“The grant has had a critical impact on our business. People in lockdown wanted their beer at home.
“With this investment, we’ve been able to go national and chase high volume business and all with a greater level of confidence in the quality of the product.
“We can now produce retail-ready beer and react to the market much quicker as things change.
“We’re looking at an exponential increase in sales from a low base of 10,000 cans in 2019 to 75,000 this year, and double that by 2021.
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“The support from Ann and Rita has been fantastic.
“The process was 100 per cent robust. We were challenged on all the right things, but they had an eye on the end results as Covid had contracted timescales.
“Rather than leaving us to our own devices to apply, they worked with us dynamically, so we put an accurate and compelling case forward. I would be incredibly positive if anyone came my way and asked if they should go for this grant.
“This is a big step toward our ambitions to become a world-class brewery where we brew and package for other producers as well as ourselves.
“Just in its first few days of operation, our new canning line has produced 20,000 cans of our world champion Gunmetal Black lager for a major supermarket.”
Ann Cook said: “Combie and his team were quick to react to what has been a devastating time for many businesses.
”I’m delighted the Business Growth Grant has enabled them to capitalise on the opportunity and switch their focus to what the market now demands.
She said the Business Gateway offers business growth grants to SMEs ranging in amount from £2,000 to £25,000, and providing up to 35 per cent towards the cost of capital projects.
Businesses looking for help sourcing finance for development should visit the Business Gateway website.
The Business Gateway Growth Hub is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund and run in partnership with Leicester City Council, Leicestershire County Council, East Midlands Chamber, and the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership Limited.