Change your business address
If you're a full access user, you can update your business, registered, mailing and personal addresses within Online for Business and the Business banking app.
Bristol Beer Factory: making room to brew more - and do more
A South Bristol brewery expanded to meet rising demand, while staying true to its values around sustainability and community.
Read time: 3 mins Added: 08/06/26
A brewery built on Bristol values
Bristol Beer Factory began in South Bristol more than 20 years ago, shaped by a belief that great beer brings people together - and that pubs play an important role in local life. From the outset, the business tied its identity closely to the city, drawing on Bristol’s creativity and independence to build a reputation as a proudly local brewer. Alongside brewing beer, it set out to be a force for good: supporting people, giving back to the community and reducing its impact on the planet.
As the brewery’s range expanded over the years, the limitations of its old Victorian brewhouse became harder to ignore. With demand growing across its portfolio, capacity was increasingly stretched, and the North Street site was no longer fit for purpose. To keep growing, and to do so more sustainably, the business needed space to upgrade equipment and rethink how it brewed.
Building sustainability into the brew
That next chapter began with an investment in a new, environmentally sustainable brewery, backed by a seven-figure Capital Import Finance and Hire Purchase package from Lloyds.
The move into the 12,000 sq ft Ashton Vale facility doubled Bristol Beer Factory’s footprint and created the capacity to brew more beer, including its newest 4.1% Pilsner lager, Gravity, while improving how the business operates day-to-day.
Sustainability sat at the centre of the build. Carbon capture and vapour heat recovery technology improved carbon efficiency, with captured carbon recycled and reused to carbonate the beer. Alongside cutting emissions, the technology also helped reduce exposure to volatile gas prices, with estimated annual savings of around £100,000.
For Managing Director Sam Burrows, the expansion represented more than simply meeting demand. “This expansion is about more than just brewing more beer, we’ve also been able to make improvements across the board, benefitting our people, community and planet.”
That combination of greener production and long-term thinking is what stood out to their Lloyds Relationship Director, Will Kite. He said: “Bristol Beer Factory is a shining example of what sustainable growth looks like. By investing in greener production and deepening its community roots, it’s driving lasting value across Bristol. We’ve worked with the business for the past decade and are proud to support them in their ongoing success.”
Growing alongside the community
That wider definition of growth is reflected in how the brewery invests in people. The expansion supported local job creation, with six new recruits joining the team, including two apprentices.
The business has also remained closely connected to the Bristol hospitality sector it serves. Around 82% of its beer continues to be delivered directly to local venues, reinforcing long standing relationships with Bristol pubs even as the brewery also partners with wholesalers nationwide.
As Bristol Beer Factory has grown, it has looked for ways to ensure that growth has a wider impact. That thinking underpins Brewed to Give, which reinvests 2% of every brewery sale into Bristol-based charities and grassroots projects. Since 2023, the initiative has supported more than 250 organisations across the city, delivering over £450,000 in funding. The same approach sits behind Clear Head, the brewery’s alcohol free IPA created in partnership with Talk Club, with 5% of sales supporting mental health and encouraging conversation - often in the kinds of settings where it happens naturally, local pubs.
For Sam Burrows, the new brewery strengthens that link between commercial growth and social value.
Sam Burrows Managing Director, Bristol Beer FactoryWe’re continuing towards our goal of being a leading brand in the city, that’s known for doing right by the community we operate in. This new brewery means we can better respond to a positive trend in customer demand while also increasing our ability to deliver social value driven projects like Brewed to Give.
You may also be interested in
All lending is subject to status. Eligibility criteria apply.