Beer at home means work for Spaciotempo

TEMPORARY building expert Spaciotempo is benefiting from Britain’s growing thirst for beer at home.

Supermarkets and off-licences sold more beer than pubs and clubs for the first time last year as demand hit record levels.

Uttoxeter-based Spaciotempo is helping pubco Marston’s to keep up with demand by putting up four new warehouses at the company’s main brewery in Burton to increase storage capacity by 45%.

The buildings, which will create space for as many as 14m bottles of beer, represent the final stage of major plans to increase production at the site following the installation of a new £7.4m bottling plant.

Sales of beer in pubs dwindled by 0.8% last year, according to figures from the British Beer and Pub Association, while ‘off-trade’ business shot up by 3.5%.

Marston’s saw take-home trade grow by more than 10% in the last 12 months alone and is now ramping up on-site storage to keep pace.

Spaciotempo is replacing two of its existing warehouses at the Burton site with new units that will create 8,500 sq m of storage and room for 13,500 pallets.

Work to erect four 6m high buildings, each measuring 30 x 85m, is due to start next week and is expected to be completed in just three months.

The project is one of the biggest to date for Spaciotempo, which supplies a range of innovative temporary and semi-permanent buildings for a wide variety of purposes.

Scott Jameson, managing director of Spaciotempo, said: “Marston’s wanted to significantly increase storage capacity at their Burton site and we’ve worked with them to develop the ideal solution.

“We’ve carried out all the planning, groundworks and drainage already and, once the building programme starts, they’ll be up and running in less than three months.

“It’s a significant deal for both them and us, in fact it’s one of the biggest we’ve ever done, and it extends a partnership between the two companies which stretches back six years.”

Emma Gilleland, director of brewing at Marston’s, said: “We’ve seen significant growth in the take-home market over the last couple of years.

“More people than ever before are enjoying a beer in the comfort of their own home, so we’ve moved to ensure supply keeps up with demand.

“The bottling plant, which opened last year, was the first stage of that plan and new storage facilities will give us the huge amount of extra warehouse capacity we need.”