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The West Berkshire Brewery (“WBB”) is an independent brewer situated in Yattendon West Berkshire. Since its inception, in 1995, WBB has been known for making traditional ales for which it has won 40 awards to date.
Since November 2014, under the guidance of industry veteran David Bruce, WBB has raised £4.89m of equity under the Enterprise Investment Scheme. This new capital has so far supported, amongst other things:
- Building a brand new brewery and state-of-the-art bottling, kegging and canning line;
- Acquiring a drink-led, managed pub in London in which to promote WBB’s brands; and
- Providing working capital to support the expansion of the sales and marketing teams as WBB expands its distribution area and explores new exports markets.
In order to take advantage of the opportunities that arise, the Board of WBB believes that it is time to raise further capital to speed-up the attainment of the goal of being one of the pre-eminent breweries in the UK.
The three areas of focus are:
Product Range
The Company continues to produce its 8 traditional beers and cask ales and more recently it has introduced a new range of craft beers that trades under the new brand Renegade Brewery. Aimed at the younger generation and inspired by WBB’s young brewers, Renegade lager uses strong flavours from the rising American beer culture to create hop-heavy beers that are refreshing, crisp and easily drinkable.
Packaging
WBB has purchased a fully automated brewery that has the ability to bottle, can and keg. All of which will be fully operational from August 2017. The new facility is flexible and can easily be increased in scale and has the potential to grow into an industry leading brewing and packing facility. The brewing facility will be available to other local brewers that do not have the necessary facilities to bottle, keg or can their own products and will, therefore, create an addition revenue stream for the Company.
Public Houses
As a recent addition, WBB has acquired a North London pub to vertically integrate its business. The Depot as it is known is located in Islington which provides an opportunity for the Company to showcase its high-quality range of beers directly to the consumer. In addition to the packaging facility, The Depot creates another revenue stream that will also grow the brand's awareness.
It is the intention of WBB to add additional managed pubs to create that will then be headed by a dedicated team separate to that of the Brewery. This will allow both teams to focus fully on their strategy ensuring the best possible returns for shareholders.
WBB is seeking to raise £1,500,000 on an EIS basis in return for approximately 15.22% equity in the Company - a pre-money valuation of £8.36m and a subscription price of 315 pence per share.
The Company reserves the right to overfund to £3,781,000, and all proceeds above the £1,500,000 immediate target will be used to acquire drink-led pubs to create a platform to showcase the West Berkshire Brewery and Renegade Brewery beers.
The minimum subscription amount is £5,000 or such other minimum subscription as the directors and Asset Match may determine from time to time.
The Company has a single share class and investors will be issued shares that rank pari passu with the existing share capital.
Use of proceeds
The Company intends to use the £1,500,000 of new equity to complete its packaging facility and the complete the brewery site development.
The Company has purchased €4m worth of brewing equipment which will be delivered from Italy by the end of April 2017. The funds will be used to install and finish the brewery and also make the packing facility to a standard to which it will be deemed future proof. To do this the facility will have the size, capability and flexibility to make it a sector leading brewing and packaging facility. The packing line will reduce the cost per unit of the Company’s production, therefore, increasing margins. The Company is currently in talks with a number of brewers to provide outsourced contract bottling.
The directors and employees of the company are committed to continuing to grow the business and brew quality beers. The further development of income streams is to be achieved through: development of new beers; contract bottling; managed pub(s); brewery shop and cafe; online sales; and export.
The company has entered into an agreement with Asset Match to facilitate electronic trading of the ordinary shares, subject to the Articles of Association. It is anticipated that the share trading facility will become active at an appropriate time, as agreed upon between the company and Asset Match.
The West Berkshire Brewery plc has submitted its plan to raise money, details of its structure and trade etc. to HMRC and has been given advance assurance that the proposed share issue is likely to qualify for Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) tax reliefs. To date, the company has raised c. £4.89m of new money via EIS.
Tax relief is available only to individuals who subscribe for shares in an Enterprise Investment Scheme. Relief is at 30 per cent. of the cost of the shares, to be offset against the individuals' Income Tax liability for the tax year in which the investment was made.
If you sell, give away or otherwise dispose of shares, tax reliefs can reduce your Capital Gains Tax liability. Your shares must meet certain conditions to qualify for these reliefs.
Please visit the HMRC website for further information on EIS tax relief.
The availability of any tax relief, including EIS and SEIS, depends on the individual circumstances of each investor, and may be subject to change in the future. If you are in any doubt about availability of any tax reliefs, of the tax treatment of your investment, you should obtain independent tax advice before proceeding with your investment.
This summary should be read in conjunction with all documentation made available on this site. Please read the supporting documentation carefully before making any investment decision.
You are reminded that investing in early stage and unquoted businesses involves risks, including illiquidity, lack of dividends, loss of investment and dilution, and it should only be done as part of a diversified portfolio. Asset Match is targeted exclusively at investors who are sufficiently wealthy and sophisticated to understand these risks and make their own investment decisions.
If you have registered with Asset Match as a shareholder of a company on the platform, you are reminded that you will need to certify that you are either a High Net Worth, Certified Sophisticated Investor or Self-Certified Sophisticated Investor.
Instructions
- If you are interested in investing, please email us via dealing@assetmatch.com, confirming how much you are looking to invest and we will send you a completed application form to sign. Alternatively, you can download the form from the Company Documents section and complete the relevant sections yourself. Please return the completed form along with a cheque (made payable to The West Berkshire Brewery PLC) to:
Mr T Lucas
Finance Director
West Berkshire Brewery
The Flour Barn
Frilsham Home Farm
Yattendon
Berkshire RG18 0XT
If possible, please email us a copy of the form to dealing@assetmatch.com, so that we can register your investment and update this page. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.
David Bruce Chairman
David’s forty-eight year entrepreneurial career in the international brewing industry and licensed trade started in 1966 when he joined Courage, Barclay & Simonds in Reading, Berkshire, as a brewery management trainee. Having learnt to brew, he became the Brewer and Sales Manager at Theakston’s Brewery in Yorkshire before co-founding not only Bruce’s Brewery and the Firkin Pubs in 1979 but also the Small Independent Brewers Association (SIBA) in 1980.
Having sold Bruce’s Brewery and the Firkin Pubs for £6.6 million before the age of forty, David became a co-founder and investor in a number of start-up breweries in Paris, Brooklyn, Denver and Seattle before returning to the UK to develop his pub interests.
In 1993, David became the largest private shareholder in Grosvenor Inns PLC and, as Development and Marketing Director, was responsible for rolling out The Slug & Lettuce chain of branded bars. In December 2000, David co-founded with Clive Watson (and became Chief Executive of) The Capital Pub Company PLC, which raised over £15 million under the Enterprise Investment Scheme, was floated on AIM in 2007 and was sold in July 2011 to Greene King for an enterprise value of £93million. This provided the original Enterprise Investment Scheme investors with a threefold return on their net of tax investment.
In November 2006, David became a founding investor in the Enterprise Investment Scheme-funded Country Food & Dining group of companies of which he is Chairman. To date, this group of companies has raised over £7.5 million which has been invested in eight farm shops, providing primarily locally-sourced produce and food and drink retailing through on-site cafés.
In October 2011, again with CliveWatson, David co-founded and became Chairman of The City Pub Company (East) PLC and The City Pub Company (West) PLC which have, between them, raised £8 million under the Enterprise Investment Scheme, and currently own seventeen free houses, including three microbreweries, between Bath and Norwich via London and Brighton.
Thomas Lucas Managing Director
Tom is an ACCA qualified accountant. He joined WBB in 2008 and has a thorough understanding of all aspects of the business, having played an important role in the Company’s development over the last two years.
Simon Robertson-Macleod Non-Executive Director
Simon has been involved in the drinks industry for over forty years. Having worked for Martell in Cognac and Deinhard in Koblenz, he joined Scottish & Newcastle Breweries in November 1973 and stayed with them for twenty-two years, his last role being Director of Major Accounts for William Younger & Company. He joined Fuller’s in October 1995 as National Accounts Controller (Brewers and Multiple Pub Groups) and retired in 2013 having overseen a growth of 400 per cent. in sales of cask London Pride. Simon is also a non-executive director of Ossett Brewery in Yorkshire.
Andrew Dickson Production Director