North Brewing Co is creating new jobs, significantly boosting capacity and building a new 500-seater taproom with the opening of its new site in Springwell, Leeds.
The brewery, founded by John Gyngell and Christian Townsley in 2015, has expanded in a bid to cater for the ever-increasing demand for its beers.
The centrepiece of the new Springwell facility is a 50HL brewhouse from Gravity Systems. Alongside the company’s existing site in Sheepscar, Leeds, the team expect to output some 16,000HL in 2021.
However, there is the potential to output at least double that again with the addition of extra FV capacity.
A new canning line, to be installed at Springwell, will boost North Brewing Co’s packaging capabilities while a 500-seater taproom will offer drinkers a new destination to enjoy the brewery’s beers.
North’s new facility will complement its existing premises, a site that will now host mixed fermentation, small batch, and barrel-aged projects.
To realise the new Springwell brewery, North has worked with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to leverage a Business Growth Programme Fund.
North committed to create seven new jobs through the fund, six of which are already on board and additional team members are soon to be recruited.
Christian Townsley, the co-founder North Brewing Co, says 2020 has been a been a year of two parts.
“On our bar side we’ve been fighting for our lives, it has been horrendous,” he explained. “It has been really difficult and you find yourself firefighting on a daily basis.”
He added: “We managed to convert many of the bars to bottleshops, which helped us. But the changing restrictions, and the addition of the 10pm curfew was a real killer for a lot of hospitality.
“There was zero help and it was a real stranglehold for businesses like ours. So to see the support come through, be it online or click and collect, has had John and I in tears.
“It means the world to know you have that connection with the community. It’s very humbling.”
Despite the unprecedented nature of 2020, both Townsley and Gyngell, knew they had to press on with the project that was some two years in the making.
“We had pretty much signed the lease in March of this year, then everything changed,” he recalls. “We paused for a moment but then knew we had to crack on. We’ve expanded because we needed to make more beer and that wasn’t going to happen if we stood still.”
With an ambitious project nearing completion, Townsley is excited about the road ahead.
“It’s been hard work but, to be honest, I think it’s helped save my sanity,” he explains. “But now, we can look forward to having more of the team under one roof, and to make more beer too.”
He adds: “It’s been a challenging year for everyone.
“I hope that, by showing a company like ours can grow, we can show everyone there’s still much to be positive about, that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.”
