Community brewery ale and ‘heartening’
A NEW community brewery in Yorkshire has been heralded as a “heartening project” as a growing number of social enterprises enter the pub trade.
Richmond MP Rishi Sunak officially opened the Northallerton Brewing Company in the premises of the former Walls Brewery in North Yorkshire’s county town. The new venture is communityowned with 21 beer enthusiasts involved.
Mr Sunak said: “This is a heartening project. It is great that we have community pubs and now we have a community brewery too.”
Brewery manager Grace Aird, who works with two trainee brewers, two part-time sales and delivery staff and an apprentice administrator, said sales had exceeded £40,000 for the first three months. It is hoped sales will reach £300,000 in the first year with 290,000 pints of beer being sold.
The Yorkshire Post reported in December that a succession of co-operatives and communityled companies have taken control of pubs and cafes in Yorkshire.
Figures from The Plunkett Foundation, which promotes social enterprises, revealed there are now 44 co-operative pubs in the UK, up from just three in 2010. One of the nation’s most successful co-operatives saw The George and Dragon in Hudswell, near Richmond, rescued through a community buy-out. It was named this month as Camra’s pub of the year.