A popular brewery has teamed up with a national bank to help reduce their town’s carbon footprint.
The Rebellion Beer Company in Marlow Bottom has partnered up with Lloyds Bank’s Clean Growth Finance Initiative (CGFI), which saw the Bencombe Farm venue receive £210,000 in funding.
The money has seen the company install a new onsite bottling plant.
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Previously, all beer brewed was freighted to Kent to be bottled and sent back.
The new, state-of-the-art onsite facility will now remove trips which total to 16,000 miles per year, whilst reducing the bottling time from two days to just four hours per batch.
Tim Coombes, director, and shareholder at Rebellion Beer Company, said: “Lockdown has been the hardest time for our business but I’m very pleased that we have managed to reinvent the business in that time.
“Providing a drive-through service is something I’ve always considered but this has given me the push I needed to make it a reality.
“We wouldn’t be in the position we are now without the support of Lloyds Bank and the specialist funding for green projects.
“Our constant focus is on becoming more sustainable and making it easier for our customers to live more sustainably, too.
“The issue of single-use glass is a major challenge for the brewing industry, and I hope our reusable bottle initiatives show the rest of the sector what is possible.”
The company brews more than 70,000 pints of non-filtered and non-pasteurised beer, free from preservatives, every week with the brewery being open to visitors through its shop.
The CGFI funding will also be used to establish a bottle recycling system for customers, but this is currently on hold due to the current pandemic.
The system will mean customers can purchase one-litre reusable bottles, which can be refilled as many times as required to reduce the reliance on single-use bottles.
Richard Graves, Relationship Manager at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, added: “It’s inspiring to see Tim and his team making real steps towards such an important goal, especially in the current climate and pressures the brewing industry is facing.
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“Becoming more sustainable is an aim for many businesses but often it’s hard to know where to begin and how to make those ambitions a reality.
“By exploring funding options specifically for sustainable projects, Rebellion Beer has taken the first important step.
“We’re proud to work alongside such a standard-setter for the independent brewing sector.”
Visit www.rebellionbeer.co.uk for more information.
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