Craft brewery launches share scheme

A UK craft brewery is offering fans of its award-winning beer the opportunity to buy a stake in its success.

(L-R) Tom Lucus, finance, and Will Twomey, head brewer, of the West Berkshire Brewery.

The West Berkshire Brewery, based out of Yattenden, launched its share scheme at the start of the New Year offering shares in the company from £1,000.

The scheme has been led by its chairman, pub entrepreneur, David Bruce, who has launched multiple breweries in the UK, Europe and North America and is known for developing both the Firkin and Slug and Lettuce pub chains.

He was also the co-founder of the team which created, floated and then sold The Capital Pub Company for £93m in 2011.

Now, he has teamed up with the founders of the West Berkshire Brewery (WBB), husband-and-wife duo Dave and Helen Maggs, to grow the popular brewery, which has already won awards for its beers which include “Good Old Boy” and “Dr Hexter’s Healer”.

WBB was founded in 1995 when the couple used their life savings to launch the business initially making beer in a converted barn behind a pub, with friends Andy and Karen Baum joining the business in 1998.

“West Berkshire Brewery is a fabulous, authentic, British brewing success story which I am absolutely thrilled now to lead”, said David Bruce.

“WBB makes wonderful beers in a glorious part of the world – where I have been fortunate enough to live for many years – and the really exciting bit is that beer lovers and craft-brewing enthusiasts now have the chance to join us as shareholders and to share in this great story, as well as in our future success.”

It is the first step in a plan to expand the business which has grown by an average of approximately 20% each year since 2001 and now has annual sales of over £1 million.

The brewery produces eight different beers, including flagship brew Good Old Boy, Swift’s Pale Ale and Dr Hexter’s Healer.

Its products are now stocked in pubs across London and the Home Counties, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire, in more than 30 branches of Waitrose as well as London store, Fortnum & Mason.

For more information on the sale of shares visit wbbrew.com