UK: Innis & Gunn hoping to secure £3 million in investment for new Edinburgh brewery

Scottish craft beer maker Innis & Gunn has announced plans to secure a major cash injection to drive proposals for a new Edinburgh brewery, the Yahoo Finance UK reported on November 11.

The company hopes to secure £3 million in investment to fund the new brewery as well as continue to open bars in Scotland.

Innis & Gunn said its three current bars in Scotland have prospered amid the recent surge in popularity for craft beer and it hopes to open another two sites annually over the next three years.

Founder and master brewer Dougal Gunn Sharp said the new brewery is in the next stage in the company’s evolution after rapid growth in beer sales.

The launch, which the firm claims will be the first major brewery in Edinburgh for 150 years, is expected to open in 2021 and create around 30 jobs.

Innis & Gunn plans to fund the expansion with its third crowdfunding campaign, to raise £3 million from supporters of the brand through funding platform Seedrs.

Growth has continued over the past three years since its previous funding campaign, pushing its sales to more than £25 million in turnover and almost 21 million pints of beer in total.

Mr Gunn Sharp said: “There is a huge drinks industry legacy in the city so this is the next logical step for us. We want to bring Edinburgh back to what it was as a true brewing city.

“The focus of the funding round is absolutely on the development of the brewery, but we are going to keep investing to continue to drive this current growth too.”

The beer company’s growth has also been catalysed by private equity investment, after it received around £15 million from US group L Catterton for a minority stake in the company in 2017.

The founder added that the business wants to continue to invest in and expand its portfolio of bars, which currently consists of sites in Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

He said: “We hope to open another two taprooms each year, with the focus still being on the Scottish market for now as we can see first-hand that the growth potential is there.”

11 November, 2019