FOUR microbreweries in Shropshire are looking forward to a healthier 2011 after securing a total of £132,500 in funding to support their business expansion plans.
The quartet successfully applied for the cash boost through the Rural Enterprise Grant programme, which is managed by Advantage West Midlands, and aims to help farmers and microbusinesses in the region diversify.
The Ludlow Brewing Company, established by husband and wife partnership Gary and Alison Walters, has received the maximum grant of £62,500, which will go towards establishing a 20-barrel brewing plant in a redundant railway shed.
The Six Bells Brewery, in Bishops Castle, has been boosted to the tune of £53,000 in a bid to treble its brewing capacity, replacing the existing eight-hectolitre brew plant with a new 25-hectolitre model, using the latest energy saving technology.
The Clun Brewery is a new microbrewery started up by business partners Jack Limond and Matthew Williamson.
A grant of £8,000 is helping them install a 2.5-barrel brewery at the rear of the White Horse Inn, owned and managed by Mr Limond since 2001.
The Three Tuns Brewery in Bishops Castle, which has been brewing on site since 1642, is improving its brewing process by installing a 24-barrel cold liquor storage vessel and new internal cooling radiator, supported by £9,000.
Mark Foley, director of European programmes at Advantage West Midlands, said: “The food and drink sector is a vital part of the rural economy in the West Midlands and I am delighted that the Rural Enterprise Grant Programme is playing an instrumental role in boosting Shropshire’s thriving micro brewery industry.”
Pic from front: Jack Limond of Clun Brewery, Peter England of Ludlow Brewing Company, Bill Bainbridge of Three Tuns Brewery, Neville Richards of Six Bells Brewery and and Matthew Williamson of Clun Brewery.
You could be missing out on BREAKING NEWS ALERTS if you haven’t signed up for our daily emails. Check your settings here.
