Plymouth-based The Ivybridge Brewing Company has expanded with new brewing and cold store facilities.

The business has utilised £25,000 of funding to expand its operations into a neighbouring building located near the River Erme.

The funding from Resonance is helping the company to refurbish its taproom while increasing the size of its brewery and cold room.

A new fermenter has been procured to keep up with growing demand for their core range of four beers — Erme Pale, Moorland Mosaic, a pilsner lager (PILS 21) and Redlake Red Amber Ale. While seasonal beers include a honeycomb stout, a porter, and hazy pales.

Ivybridge, which is a social enterprise, has sold more than 10,000 bottles and 16,000 pints across its taproom and at Darts Farm and Greendale Farm shops, The Box, the National Trust, the Watermark, several restaurants and the Arts Centre in Ashburton.

“We’ve realised that our motto, ‘great beer changing lives’, extends beyond the people who come in and work with us,” said Simon Rundle, founder and chief executive of Ivybridge Brewing Co.

“It encompasses all our customers visiting the taproom. Their lives are changed just by experiencing a world where people with learning disabilities and autism work in a welcoming and positive environment.

“The overarching theme is confidence. People who work here all feel confident, and that comes from being part of a community, having friends, solving problems, being proud to make a product. They feel better about themselves.”

The Ivybridge Brewing Co started in a kitchen in a town hall eight years ago, then moved to its new home in the centre of Ivybridge in 2021, before expanding into the building next door.

It currently boasts 16 employees and volunteers, 11 of whom have a learning disability or are neurodiverse. They all gain skills, including customer service, teamwork, and dealing with money, while developing industry skills, such as bottling, cleaning vessels, and learning about the brewing process.