UK: Moorhouse's brewery unveils £1 million expansion
The boss of famed Burnley brewery Moorhouse's has pledged to do all he can to keep the business in the town after unleashing his £1m. vision of the future, Burnley Express posted June 23.
Managing Director Mr David Grant admitted to the Express this week that council red tape could halt ambitious plans for a new brewhouse which needs to be built to cope with exhausting demand.
A provisional site covering the recently CPO'd areas of Villiers Street and Clay Street has been earmarked for the building, close to the existing site in Moorhouse Street, off Accrington Road.
He conceded that scouting missions have taken place to areas outside of Burnley should the plans hit a brick wall.
He went on: "We are outgrowing ourselves, the production is going crazy and we do not have the space that we need. We have been talking to the council, but we certainly do not want to move out of Burnley and we are in the process of twisting their arms. My wish and desire is to stay in Burnley. We have been here for a long time and we do not want to move, we are part of the heritage and to leave would be a real shame. It would be the end of an era. However, commercial decisions have to be made and if we cannot agree with the local authority then we have got to look at ways of protecting the businesses."
Mr Grant, who describes the current brew house as a "tardis", says the new site will include a visitors' centre, a training centre for prospective licensees, as well as bars, shops and cafes, not to mention equipment that can brew between 500 to 700 barrels of beer every week.
Mr Grant estimates that the new development will create up to 35 jobs. He went on: "It is great news that the development will make new jobs available. We need to be producing more beer than what we are doing, it is a nice problem to have but it is still a problem.
"We have been very successful, but we cannot stand still. This is a very exciting project and we are very much looking forward to the future."
Moorhouse's supplies more than 300 free house pubs in the North-West and Yorkshire, while its beers reach outlets further afield through leading drinks wholesalers, and it boasts more accolades than any other brewery of its size.
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