West Berkshire Brewery is aiming to raise £4m through an Enterprise Investment Scheme to build a new brewery, visitor centre and pub.
The brewer, which supplies beer to Waitrose, Fortnum & Mason and Majestic Wines, predicts it will outgrow its current Yattendon-based site - which produces 11,000 barrels a year - within 24 months.
Sales have grown 20% each year since 2000, said the brewer, which saw a 17% like-for-like sales hike in the six months to September 2014.
A spokesman for WBB said the business would remain based in West Berkshire. “There are a few sites in mind,” he told The Grocer. “The breweries will run in tandem, to ensure seamless production, before transferring over to the new site.”
WBB produces a core range of eight beers including flagship brew Good Old Boy, as well as Mister Swift’s Pale Ale and Dr Hexter’s Healer. It also produces limited-edition and seasonal beers.
“We have great ambitions for the brewery, as well as for our portfolio of brands, and are ready to take our high-quality range of British-brewed premium beers to a larger audience than ever before,” said WBB chairman David Bruce, who founded and developed Bruce’s Brewery and the Firkin chain of pubs in the 1980s, and was responsible for the national expansion of the Slug & Lettuce chain when he was a director of Grosvenor Inns.
Last month the brewer rebranded its award-winning British bitters, pale ales and stouts with a more modern image and bottle design in a bid to reflect the quality of its products. As part of the revamp, the basic wrap label for its bottles was replaced with a classic front, back and neck design.
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