Acorn managing director Dave Hughes and Mike Benner Camra chief executive

SOUTH Yorkshire's fast growing Acorn Brewery is toasting success in the national Brewing Business Awards.

The Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA*) has praised the six-year-old Barnsley brewer** for undertaking a creative public relations campaign aimed at increasing awareness of its award winning cask ales.

The ‘Highly Commended' accolade for Acorn's cost effective use of brewing industry publicist Rhino Public Relations to promote its beers came with sales figures showing a 21 per cent leap on 2008.

At the prestigious awards evening, SIBA chief executive Julian Grocock said: "The awards showcase the entrepreneurial skills that are as important as brewing ability in building successful businesses. Acorn's cost effective PR campaign greatly impressed the judges."

The campaign included an event linked to the Dickie Bird Foundation to launch the new brewery in Wombwell, the celebration of Acorn's fifth birthday in 2008 and the successful promotion of a record setting series of IPAs (India Pale Ales) with leading Barnsley born beer author Pete Brown.

Dave Hughes, Acorn managing director, said: "This is a great result for us. As we invested in a new brewery, following five years in business and many brewing awards, we knew we were making excellent beers. We also knew we had to shout about them a lot more. Lacking the in-house resource, we sought professional help from industry specialist Rhino PR to work alongside our sales effort. A bold step for a small brewer, it has paid off well - as our 21 per cent sales increase demonstrates.

"It's fantastic to win public recognition from our peers and industry experts. The beer and pub business is going through a tough time, but our success shows that it's still possible to develop trade despite the economy."

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