Meantime secures new brewery
London brewer Meantime is to invest £1.5m in a new brewery, which will double its brewing capacity.
The new leased site, at Blackwall Lane, Greenwich, is just over a mile away from its current location and will make distribution easier, reducing the company's annual delivery mileage by approximately 2,500.
Brewing capacity will be doubled overnight from its current limit of 12,000 hectolitres and gives room for further expansion.
The brewery will be open to visitors and feature a fully equipped training suite as an added tourist attraction.
Local MP Nick Raynsford and the council assisted Meantime in locating and acquiring the premises, as both parties were determined that the brewery should stay in its home borough.
"This major investment will secure the future of Meantime and the jobs of our employees, by enabling us to streamline our production and satisfy the growing demand for our beer that we are experiencing as more and more Londoners are aware that great beer is being made on their doorstep," said Meantime founder, brewmaster and Brewer of the Year 2008 Alastair Hook. "This is going to put Meantime firmly on the map of London."
The brewery will begin production next summer, with trademark ales India Pale Ale and London Porter.
Meantime is also investing in a bar, restaurant and brewery in the new £6.5m Discover Greenwich complex at the Royal Naval College in 2010.
The site will be opened by Mayor Boris Johnson on 22 March, to coincide with the company's tenth birthday.
