Kentish Express Ashford & District
Brewery’s new owners reveal plans
The new owners of Ashford’s Curious Brewery have vowed to build the business after the takeover from Chapel Down was completed.
The Tenterden-based winemaker announced it had ditched its Curious beer and cider range in February - less than two years after it unveiled a multi-million brewery and visitor centre devoted to it close to Ashford International Station.
It blamed the impact of the lockdown which had hit its trade to pubs hard.
The buyer of the brand was private equity firm Risk Capital Partners (RCP) - led by entrepreneur Luke Johnson.
Now it has appointed a team to lead the business forward among them a number of senior figures in the drinks trade.
Pub and brewing veteran Mark Crowther and former UK head of Budweiser Budvar Simon George join the business as chairman and managing director, respectively.
Mr Crowther was most recently CEO at Liberation Group, and has held senior positions at Carlsberg, Brakes, and Diageo. He is currently non-executive chairman at Portobello Brewery.
Mr George, who will be responsible for day-to-day operations, led Budweiser Budvar in the UK for seven years before stepping down in January.
RCP says it plans to invest in a new bottling and canning line while increasing support to its sales and marketing teams.
Mr Johnson said: “The restaurant and tap rooms will be opening to welcome guests as soon as we are allowed. We are particularly pleased to be taking on all Curious employees, who bring with them a wealth of insight and knowledge.”