The Sir Thomas White Loan Charity’s business grants have been of huge benefit to a wide range of businesses up and down the county – and the same can certainly be said for Leicester-based brewery Mill Hill Brew Co, who received a grant of £5,000 during 2022.
“It (the grant) really gave us the ability to capitalise on the Christmas period,” explained Harry, Director and Head Brewer at Mill Hill Brew Co.
“We have been able to re-invest in more equipment to fuel further growth due to the additional revenue, and it will continue to benefit our business on an ongoing basis.”
Upon receiving their £5,000 grant from STWLC, the brewery purchased a conical fermenter and some related equipment in order to get it operational.
“This allowed us to hire mobile canners at an economic price, to come to our brewery for the very first time and get our beer into cans,” Harry continued.
“We did this by the end of November in time to hit the Christmas rush. We sold the cans in gift boxes; attending markets, selling via our webstore, via pop-up stalls and also wholesale into local retailers and some independent beer shops further afield.
“With that, we were able to generate an additional £8.3k worth of sales between the end of November to date, which otherwise we would have missed. We have sold out of two of three of the beers we produced already!
“The margin on cans is significantly higher than in a cask/keg, and as such the profit generated from these sales was significantly better than we would have previously been able to achieve, especially as 50% of these sales were B2C, which has the highest margin of all.”
A Leicester theme runs throughout many of Mill Hill’s fantastic beers. Drinks include ‘Meet Ya At The Clocktower’, a 5.2% juicy hazy pale ale, and ‘It’s a Lesta Thing’, 4.2% hazy session pale ale bursting with fruity goodness.
“It (the grant) has also given us the opportunity to take cans to local bars, restaurants and shops and other businesses to open up new wholesale routes,” Harry added.
“We have gained new placement in Med Deli (Wistow Rural Centre), The Offie (Clarendon Park Road), Londis (Knigthon), Duncan Murray Wines (Market Harborough), Bryter Moon Deli (Silver Arcade Town Centre) and Thurlaston Garden Centre. With the additional revenue, we have been able to re-invest again, purchasing an additional conical fermenter to further drive our growth in the coming year.”
For more information on Mill Hill Brew Co, head over to their Facebook page HERE
To stay updated with future business grant application windows, please keep an eye on STWLC’s website and social media channels. Meanwhile, information on the Charity’s interest-free business loans, available up to the value of £20,000, can be seen HERE