Member Article

Northumberland craft brewers eye expansion following advice from former Guinness man

The husband and wife team behind a Northumberland-based craft brewery are targeting further expansion and exports after receiving specialist business coaching.

Simon and Dawn Miles established Anarchy Brewery in 2012 and they’ve turned to the Business Northumberland High Growth Programme to support the next stage in their award-winning company’s development.

Simon said: “We set the business up with our own funds and that’s how we want to continue to operate.

“However in order to create that self-sustaining future, we knew we needed to take some expert advice on planning our growth strategy. Brewing quality beer is what we know best but the actual running of the business is incredibly demanding so we recognised the time had come to take stock and plan properly for the future.”

The Business Northumberland High Growth Programme offers established and start-up businesses in the county free support in reaching their full growth potential. It is being delivered by Oxford Innovation.

For programme manager Mike Jobson, working alongside Anarchy Brewery was familiar territory as he had previously held senior international roles with drinks industry giants Guinness and Diageo.

He said: “The fundamentals of the business were all in place; a great product range, strong brand and most important, people with a talent and passion for what they do. My role was to apply some focus to Simon and Dawn’s efforts and to get them to work on their business as well as in it.

One of the issues Simon and Dawn face is managing the rate of long-term growth in their business.

Simon added: “We want to expand but at the same time we want to remain niche and we won’t ever compromise on quality.

“Having looked at all aspects of the business, Mike has set us a two-year target to increase production from 30 brewers’ barrels a week to 50 but with that sharp rate of increase comes issues around space, staffing and logistics.

“We already employ six people full-time and two part-time but we will need to hire more commercial expertise. And we need to establish how best to configure our plant and machinery to cope with the increased production all within the confines of the space we occupy.

“However with our new business development plan, we’re confident we’ll overcome these challenges and reach our growth target.”

Anarchy Brewery’s beers include Blonde Star, Quiet Riot and Sublime Chaos which won gold at the 2013 and 2014 Society of Independent Brewers awards.

And while the North East of England remains Anarchy’s heartland, its beers are sold in pubs across the UK as well as in Europe where the company works with distributors in Sweden and Germany.

In April, Simon and Dawn will take Anarchy on the road when they attend the prestigious Barcelona Beer Festival.

Mike said: “The drinks industry is highly competitive with discerning customers enjoying more choice than ever before.

“Simon and Dawn have worked incredibly hard to establish Anarchy in the market and with their renewed focus I am convinced they are well set on the path to growth.”

Business Northumberland is jointly funded by Arch, The Northumberland Development Company, Northumberland County Council and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Oxford Innovation’s methods have proved successful elsewhere in the UK, where the organisation has worked with over 2,500 high growth businesses. Oxford Innovation has helped its clients across the UK access over £100 million of funding, creating or safeguarding more than 1,600 jobs.

Anyone wishing to find out more about the Business Northumberland High Growth Programme and how Oxford Innovation can potentially support their business should call 01670 528403, emailnorthumberland@oxin.co.uk or visit www.businessnorthumberland.co.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .