Independent food and drink body gets festive with North Brewing Co

THIS week, the Independent Food and Drink Academy (IFDA) celebrated the festive season with a special event co-hosted with North Brewing Co.

On Thursday December 8, independent food and drink traders were invited to North Brewing Co’s Brewery Tap in Leeds. Along with food from IFDA’s Pizza Loco, there was a guided tour of the brewery and a talk from the brewery’s co-director Christian Townsley.

Having opened the brewery just a year ago, the talk, ‘Managing business growth: from bars to brewery’ explored the challenges of starting up and how independent businesses can overcome similar obstacles.  

Christian said: “Leeds really benefits from having a body that unites independent food and drink retailers and operators, so given that we have operated for nearly 20 years in the city, I thought that if there’s any tiny nuggets of information I can share with up and coming operators I would like to give something back.

“Having independent retailers adds to the cultural diversity of what this city has to offer. I think the most interesting and successful cities around the world have a rich mix of independent operators and more mainstream high street operators.”