Glass half full as brewery exceeds crowdfunding target by 20%

Freedom Brewery has completed its crowdfunding campaign, achieving a 20% surplus to its initial target of £500,000.

The funding will help to to expand the brewery’s production capacity and marketing spend to take advantage of the opportunity in the craft lager category.

Executive chairman James Coyle said: “We are delighted to welcome nearly 500 new shareholders to Freedom who have invested £600,000 to support the growth of our business.

“We were hoping our fans and followers would become investors, so we are therefore grateful for this huge vote of confidence in our business and we will work tirelessly to deliver the objective of establishing Freedom as one of the largest craft lagers in the UK.”

Over the last five years Freedom’s current private equity investors, including Oakfield Capital, have invested in the production infrastructure to grow the business to a projected £6m turnover this year and £10m by 2025.

Freedom’s trade customers include Nandos, Daisy Green, Flat Iron, Cubitt House, Cirrus Inns and the Alchemist. Off trade growth has come from supermarkets and e-commerce sites including Ocado, Aldi, Lidl, Flavourly and Moonpig.