Brewery hop-timistic as sales soar 140pc
Business is booming at a brewery, with bosses announcing sales have rocketed 140 per cent in January – just over a year after completing a massive £250,000 expansion.
Bosses at Backyard Brewhouse, at the Gatehouse Trading Estate in Brownhills, said sales were up on the same time last year and the rise was partly due to the success of its bottled beers.
The firm has now teamed up with Holdens Brewery and Sadlers Ales to begin stocking the One Stop chain of local convenience stores. Director Austen Morgan said the brewery, which also supplies around 250 pubs, had produced around 48,000 pints last month, compared to 20,000 pints in January 2013.
He said: "January, traditionally one of the quietest months of the year has seen our sales up 140 per cent on this same time last year. A massive amount of hard work has been done by all of the Backyard team over the past 12 months and this increase is the result. February stands to repeat January's success with a planned 21 brews for this month – a massive 60,500 pints.
"Here's hoping we can keep up this momentum for the rest of the year."
Brewery bosses took over The Fountain Inn, in Lower Forster Street, in 2012 and reopened the 150-year-old pub after a revamp costing almost £100,000.
Mr Morgan said: "We are always keeping our eyes open to see if there are any suitable pubs out there to take on as a second pub."
The Lichfield Road brewery more than tripled its beer production after completing a £250,000 expansion more than a year ago.
Bosses invested another £25,000 in equipment last year.
