West Sussex-based Hepworth Brewery has officially opened its new site following a relocation to Pulborough from premises in Horsham. The opening was celebrated with a host of local supporters.
The move was made possible with a £2.36 million funding package from HSBC, alongside significant personal investment from the business owners and grant funding. The HSBC package included a £1.8m commercial mortgage loan that has allowed the brewery to treble its space and increase its workforce, with local recruitment at the heart of the company’s expansion.
A small proportion of the funding was also used to purchase two state-of-the-art conditioning tanks, required to meet the demand for increased production of the company’s award-winning own-brand beer and to enable the company to expand its capacity for contract brewing.
The new site also includes a shop which sells a selection of the brewery’s products and a newly-built visitor centre which will run tours for budding brewers and beer lovers. Hepworth Brewery also plans to use the facilities to host a series of lectures and training sessions for other local small breweries.
Victoria Mutter, HSBC’s area director for business banking in Gatwick and East Sussex, said: “We are so pleased to have helped Hepworth Brewery move to this fantastic new site and expand their business. The team is incredibly passionate about what they do and the business has become a key player on the Sussex brewing scene. We can’t wait to see how the business will grow following their move.”
Brewery founder Andy Hepworth (pictured) said: “Brewing great beer has always been a passion for us and our relocation in West Sussex has allowed us to continue to tap into the great produce from local farmers on our doorstep. Sussex farmers are excellent: their skills make our job much, much easier and we can’t wait to brew even more varieties.
“HSBC attended our launch on Friday, and the bank’s team has been an amazing resource for us during this move. Their support and advice has been invaluable and we hope to continue this great banking relationship with them.”
