Award winner: Stroud Brewery founder Greg Pilley
Award-winning organic beer producer, Stroud Brewery, is set to launch a bond offer, hoping to raise £300,000. It’s working with Triodos Bank, a global pioneer in sustainable banking.
The funds will be used to kit out the new brewery and bar that the company is moving to this autumn. Investors will also become members of the Stroud Brewery Beer Club for the period of the bond, giving them a 10% discount on their Stroud Brewery beer purchases online or in the bar.
Stroud Brewery has been brewing beer for 12 years at its home in Thrupp, just outside Stroud. The new site is only 400 yards away and has been designed to accommodate the organic brewery’s growing needs.
Providing greater capacity for beer production, storage facilities, event spaces and larger offices, the site will be more sustainable, with heat reclamation, rainwater harvesting and solar electricity. There will also be a new taproom bar with canalside views across one of the Cotswold’s valleys.
Sustainable production
Stroud Brewery is a fast-growing profitable company with turnover of £1 million in 2018 and is one of only a handful of solely organic brewers in the UK.
It is a regional supplier which is trying to produce beer sustainably, using short chains and lightweight packaging, as well as re-using waste grains and hops for cattle feed and compost. The malt and barley are sourced from within 15 miles of the brewery.
The bonds are open to anyone that registers on the Triodos platform and will pay 5% interest with capital repaid after seven years. As with all investments, interest payments are not guaranteed, and capital is at risk. The bonds are eligible to be held in a Triodos Innovative Finance ISA which allows investors to earn interest tax-free.
