A bright new future? I’ll drink to that!

A MAN who plumbed the depths of despair after the pandemic destroyed his events business overnight has bounced back by taking on a brewery.

Stephen Knight is well-known in Huddersfield as a ‘Mr Fix-it’ and during the summer months he can make good profits of £1,500–£2,000 a week hiring out his generators and erecting marquees at galas and carnivals.

But it all came to a shuddering halt when the pandemic struck last year and as a self-employed man, Stephen found himself with precious little income and no outlet for his energy.

He was fortunate in having many friends who rallied round and gave him a variety of odd jobs including painting and replacing fences.

But his situation was dire and he found himself with only 15p in his bank account at one point.

He somehow managed to pay his bills and get through an awful time and was given a lifeline when one of his best friends, leading engineer, Martin Adams, arranged for him to go into a 50/50 partnership with his father John.

This involved taking on Old Moll Spring Brewing Company, which has been renamed Moll Springs Brewery, and has helped get Stephen back a swagger in his stride.

He said: “It was a tough time in the events business, I have not worked in the past 16 months but this chance came along to buy it and we’re looking to turn it around.

“We had a very successful May Bank Holiday weekend recently which created a lot of interest and we are going to be doing more of them at our base in Old Moll Road, Huddersfield, on the Honley/Netherton border.

“The next one will be on the Bank Holiday weekend of May 29/30. Ultimately we want to create a proper taproom and sell the beer direct to the public there. We’ve also got a small canning operation too. We’re starting small with a blonde and an IPA and the brewing is being done by Dave Bore of Lazy Turtle brewing company of Holmfirth fame.”

“It’s amazing, almost literally, beer has been my salvation!

“And now that the economy is getting back to normal I’m starting to see some activity in hiring out generators for events, so that has been very helpful too.”

It’s amazing – almost literally, beer has been

my salvation!