Ollie Fleming, Butcombe Brewery

Butcombe, the fastest growing Brewery in the West Country, has appointed Oliver Fleming, as area sales manager to cover the extension of its northern delivery area to Herefordshire and Worcestershire – a new on-trade territory for the Brewery.   Butcombe’s recent  joint-initiative with television presenter and farmer, Adam Henson, and the highly successful  launch of ‘Adam Henson’s Rare Breed’ in bottle, has already led to listings in this area through major supermarkets and independents.

Guy Newell, managing director, Butcombe Brewery comments: “With our profile being raised in new areas it makes sense to ensure that we maximise sales in the on-trade as well.  Our northern territory is expanding, not only in Herefordshire and Worcestershire but from Gloucester to Ross on Wye, to Chipping Norton and to Burford.   We have known Ollie for a long time as he used to manage a highly successful rural pub that we have supplied for several years – he wanted to join our team and it’s great to have him on board.”

Butcombe’s award-winning hand-crafted ales can now be enjoyed in approximately 1,000 outlets within a 75 mile radius of Bristol.     Its bottled beers can be found in over 540 supermarkets across the UK, as well as a large number of independent convenience stores and off licences.

For further information on all Butcombe Brewery’s brands, visit http://www.butcombe.com/beers/beers.shtml or follow Butcombe Brewery on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Butcombe-Brewery

Rebecca Crispin, newly-appointed Devon sales representative for Skinner’s Brewery, at the wheel of her specially adapted van, accompanied by Cornish beer icon Betty Stogs

Truro-based Skinner’s Brewery is targeting further growth with the appointment of its first sales representative to be based outside Cornwall and the acquisition of a specially adapted vehicle to exploit the company’s Betty Stogs brand.

Rebecca Crispin, of Plymouth, will cover the whole of Devon for Skinner’s, who are now also advertising the same role for the Bath and Bristol territory.

Rebecca’s transport will be a highly visible Volkswagen T5, which has been nicknamed the “Bettymobile”, being emblazoned with words and images of Betty Stogs, the “Queen of Cornish ales.”

Betty has been Skinners’ best-selling beer since the company’s inception 14 years ago.  The brand has been given a big boost in recent years with the creation of the namesake real-life icon, aka Fred Thomas of Sticker in drag.

And in 2008 the beer was judged Champion Best Bitter of Great Britain at the Great British Beer Festival.

“The enhanced Betty theme has been a sensational success and has encouraged us to brand our new vans in this way and effectively to have Betty spearhead the entire sales operation for all our products,” said chief executive Steve Skinner.

“Whoever wins Bath and Bristol for us will have a similar ‘Bettymobile’ to work with!  As with Becca, we are looking for someone local who will be very much at home with the territory.”

Rebecca, who was chosen from more than 200 applicants for the Devon post, has joined Skinner’s after five years with Volkswagen, when she was also based in Devon.

An old girl of Kingsbridge School and Community College, she was involved in account management and sales for VW and previously worked for Kaos Design, a Plymouth-based event management company, and DJR Executive, with whom she was a researcher based in Kingsbridge.

Her Skinner’s “Bettymobile” has been customized by Belgrave Commercials of Plymouth with alloy wheels, additional windows and new seats for clients, with exterior signage and artwork by Parc Signs, of St Austell.

“I am really excited to have joined such an ambitious company as Skinner’s and with such a progressive and respected boss as Steve,” says Rebecca.  “It’s a fantastic firm to work for.  They really do put customers first and I genuinely believe I’ve landed a dream job – getting out and about in my native Devon to meet customers and sell such popular products!”

Betty Stogs accounts for around 60 per cent of total Skinners’ turnover, of which approximately 25 per cent is outside Cornwall.

Butcombe, the fastest growing Brewery in the West Country, now has the fastest growing major bottled ale brand in the UK (Source: Nielsen Scantrack Top Thirty Brewers Retail Sales 52 weeks to December 24th). Butcombe has enjoyed growth of its brands by a huge 317% during 2011.

The growth is due to the expansion of its bottled beer range led by its flagship ale, Butcombe Bitter, in major retail accounts including: Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons, as well as an increased distribution through its exclusive wholesaler Booker.

Butcombe has also had great success in its recent joint initiative with television’s favourite farmer, Adam Henson, developing and launching a new beer during 2011 – ‘Adam Henson’s Rare Breed’. This high profile association has also led to the Brewery extending its distribution within the Gloucester and Cheltenham territories where Adam’s Cotswold Farm Park is well-known as well as northwards up to Hereford and Worcester.

Guy Newell, managing director, Butcombe Brewery says: “The recent expansion of our bottled beer sales has been phenomenal and, without doubt, our link with Adam Henson has benefited the rest of the Butcombe range. Through our recently launched dedicated bottle beer website, browsers can view independent reports, guides and trends on the bottled ale business as a whole. While we of course promote our own brands, we aim to support the bottled ale category as a whole, as we are encouraging retailers to stock a wider range of beer”.

Butcombe brands can be found in over 540 supermarkets across the UK, as well as a large number of independent convenience stores and off licences. The range includes: Butcombe Bitter (4.5% A.B.V.), Butcombe Gold (4.7% A.B.V.), Butcombe Blond (4.5% A.B.V.), Butcombe Brunel IPA (5.0% A.B.V.) and Adam Henson’s Rare Breed (4.2% A.B.V.).

For further information on all Butcombe Brewery’s bottled beers, visit http://www.butcombebottles.com/ or follow Butcombe Brewery on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Butcombe-Brewery

A fast-expanding Cornish brewery has exceeded £4 million sales for the first time in 2011.

Skinner’s Brewery’s best-ever year has seen turnover rise by around 12 per cent, partly through another increase in activity nationwide.

Chief Executive Steve Skinner attributes the record year to his team.

“Our 30 strong team have worked enormously hard to win this success. Their commitment and dedication is absolutely outstanding, I am extremely proud of our staff.”

The team effort has produced great results for the Truro-based brewery, despite the tough economic climate.

“Over the last three years, we have achieved a very exciting breakthrough in sales at national level. Since mid-2009, our ales have been on sale at all Waitrose’s UK stores and we are now also selling in around a quarter of all Tesco’s UK stores. In addition, we have our pre-existing national arrangements through Coors and Wetherspoons,” said Mr Skinner.

He added: “These developments have convinced us that we still have a long way to go in terms of tapping our full potential at national level rather than just in our traditional Cornish ‘home territory.’

“Our best-seller, Betty Stogs, was judged Champion Best Bitter of Great Britain in 2008. This led to a sustained higher profile for that product in particular and we feel the time is right now to ‘go for it’ on the bigger stage.”

The Betty Stogs brand is now fronting an expanded sales and marketing campaign, with the ‘Betty’ imagery adorning specially adapted vehicles now in use by newly-appointed sales representatives covering Devon, Bath and Bristol. These representatives are the first to be based outside Cornwall for the company.

Betty Stogs accounts for around 60 per cent of Skinners’ turnover, of which approximately 25 per cent is outside Cornwall.

“Our national success is extremely encouraging, but the lion’s share of our sales remains here in Cornwall,” said Mr Skinner. “We are a truly Cornish company and this is where our main focus will continue.”

Last year Skinner’s increased storage capacity by 50 per cent when it acquired an adjacent site previously occupied by Truro Farm Machinery and withdrew from “satellite” locations at Chacewater and Devoran.

Article Taken from This is Gloucestershire

Sharp’s Brewery is working with Truro-based H2OK Water and Energy to expand its production capacity and reduce its impact on the environment through a £1million investment in green technology.

Work has begun on the first phase of an anaerobic digestion system at the brewery in Rock. The project to install the upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB), which sees waste liquid from the brewery go through a three-stage treatment process, installed by H2OK. Sharp’s will become the first brewery in the south west to use this form of technology.

Once the capacity has been unlocked, the brewery plans to invest in a second phase, which will see the waste products being turned into biogas to provide heat and power at the site, reducing the liquid waste being sent to the local water treatment plant by 80%.

In order to deliver the project, which will be completed by April, H2OK has partnered with Dutch company, Nijhuis, a leading technology provider in the industrial effluent and anaerobic digestion fields. H2OK and Sharp’s Brewery will also create a new position on site to manage the system full time.

Sharp’s general manager Emma Bebbington commented: “The anaerobic digestion system is a big step forward in helping us to become one of the most environmentally friendly breweries in the UK. ”

Palmers Brewery has become the UK’s first small brewery to be awarded the Cask Marque’s Distributor Charter.

The achievement acknowledges its skill in distributing real ale, including to the 54 pubs in the brewery’s chain.

All Palmers pubs already boast Cask Marque awards for looking after and serving quality cask ale.

Tim Woodrow, Palmers’ tenanted trade director, said the Charter complemented what they had already done in their pubs.

He said: “Real ale is a live product and there are lots of things which can change the quality of that product, if you’re not careful, so it’s terribly important to follow a strict regime and that’s what we’re about.

“We take personal pride in properly handling cask-conditioned ale and we’re very pleased to be awarded the Charter.”

He added: “It cements the standards we expect of ourselves.”

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John Glen MP, Robert Buckland MP, Simon Cole Braydon Ales, James Gray MP, Paul Harrison Braydon Ales, Stephen Metcalfe MP, Dave Dodd Braydon Ales

“On tasting of RWB (Royal Wootton Bassett Ale) I immediately proposed it for the Strangers’ Bar in Parliament so that MPs from other parts of the country can also enjoy this fine North Wiltshire real ale. Earlier this week, I was delighted to welcome Braydon Ales, an outstanding local microbrewery, to the House of Commons. As a strong supporter of real ales, I believe responsible real ale drinking in pubs is to be supported and I have no hesitation in recommending RWB over any cut-price, high-alcohol beverages found in supermarkets,” said North Wiltshire MP James Gray.

Braydon Ales’ beer RWB is currently being enjoyed by MPs and guests in the House of Commons Strangers’ Bar, where North Wiltshire MP James Gray hosted a tasting reception in the evening of Tuesday 13th December. Some 20 MPs of different political persuasions, including the Leader of the House Sir George Young, attended the tasting and all joined in congratulating Braydon Ales on producing a beer that is most enjoyable and easy to drink.

During the evening, Mr Gray presented Dave Dodd, Paul Harrison and Simon Cole, from Braydon Ales with lapel pin badges of the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group, which promotes the wholesomeness and enjoyment of beer and the unique role of the pub in our society.

Simon Cole from Braydon Ales and landlord of the Five Bells in Royal Wootton Bassett said: “We simply could not let the special occasion of the Royal naming of the town pass without marking it in the most effective way we were able, by brewing a beer. RWB was very well received by drinkers at the time, and we’re proud and delighted to have it served in the Strangers’ Bar and so obviously enjoyed by the MPs. Our thanks to James for arranging the reception.”

Braydon Ales, a microbrewery located between Royal Wootton Bassett and Lyneham, is owned and operated by three friends who all live in Royal Wootton Bassett. They developed RWB, a 4% light copper coloured ale triple hopped and with a gentle bitter aftertaste, as a special ale to mark the award of the Letters Patent to Wootton Bassett in October.

Demand for the beer is such that it will now be added to the others that Braydon Ales brew on a regular basis, namely YerTiz, PotWalloper, Galley-Bagger and Gert Ale.

All Hands to the Pumps!

The push to get MPs behind the bar to support the pub trade received a boost this week as Baths local brewery Abbey Ales— backed the campaign.

The initiative, launched by the head of the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group — Burton MP Andrew Griffiths — and backed by the Publican’s Morning Advertiser newspaper, urged MPs to support the trade by getting behind the bar.

Griffiths said the initiative will give publicans a chance to build a relationship with their local MPs and allow them to discuss the issues affecting their businesses.

With this in mind Bath MP Don Foster, member of the APPG Beer Group, has promised to get behind the bar at Abbeys Assembly Inn. Situated in Alfred Street, The Assembly is one of three pubs run by the brewery in the city alongside The Star Inn and The Coeur De Lion.

Alan Morgan, Managing Director of Abbey Ales said:

“Don has always been very supportive of Abbey Ales and Bath’s pub trade in general”

“In fact Don was so impressed with Bellringer he arranged for it to be sold as a guest beer at House of Commons just days after we launched in 1997. We will be pleased to have him behind the bar with us on Thursday afternoon on December 22 at 3 o’clock.

“Issues such as record levels of red tape and beer tax need addressing if we are to help protect this great British institution and promote responsible drinking — our MPs can help make that happen.”

Commenting further, Don said:

“Pubs are a key aspect of our culture, history and modern society; however they are increasingly under threat with approximately 39 pubs closing every week across the country.

“In Bath we must ensure we do all we can to support these fantastic institutions that are so valuable to the city.”

Abbey Ales is Baths only brewery and started brewing in the World Heritage City of Bath in 1997.

A TV programme screened on Monday documenting a brewery’s efforts to claim the name ‘Dartmoor’ as its own has provoked phenomenal reaction.

Click here to read the full story from the Times