London investor takes stake in Northern Monk brewery
Active Partners, a London-based company specialising in assisting young disrupter consumer brands, has joined Leeds-based Northern Monk brewery’s team of shareholders.
Active Partners has acquired a less than 25% shareholding in Northern Monk, the brewery which was founded in 2013 by Russell Bisset and Brian Dickson and now exports to 23 countries worldwide.
Having started out in his parents’ cellar with a £5,000 gift from a grandparent, Bisset soon attracted further investment from local businessman David Seymour and moved the business to The Old Flax Store, a Grade II listed mill in Holbeck, Leeds.
In the last 12 months, due to a successful crowdfunding round, Northern Monk has significantly expanded its operations moving into a much larger production facility close to The Old Flax Store. They added a state-of-the-art canning line and opened their second UK tap room in Manchester. The company has over 60 employees across their brewery and refectory sites.
Northern Monk’s founder and managing director Russell Bisset said: “Like many of our peers we’ve had numerous approaches from big beer acquirers, investment firms and the rest. It has always been a resounding “no” from us. We have a strong independent spirit and if a potential investor doesn’t share our values, or our vision for the future, we’re not interested. However when we were approached by Active Partners, we felt the synergy was just right.
“We’ve been working with Active Partners for some time, in order for us to properly understand their business and for them to understand ours. They are deeply involved in the companies they support and make long term investments into truly authentic and visionary brands. We are all very excited about this next significant phase in our development.
Law firm 3volution negotiated the deal.
Amy Wright, a partner at 3volution said: “We are fortunate to have been involved with Russell and his team at Northern Monk since 2015. We have advised them at key stages of growth including their hugely successful crowd funding initiative last year. This latest investment shows just how powerful their brand is becoming. They really are a force to be reckoned with.”
