Nottingham beer seller brews year-on-year success

Nottingham-based Brew Cavern, a shop that sells bottled craft beer, has seen three years of consecutive growth since starting up, generating £185,000 in turnover last year alone.

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Located on Flying Horse Walk, Brew Cavern stocks craft beers, bottle-conditioned real ales and ciders sourced from 10 countries across the world, including Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Germany and the USA.

Matt Hinton, 33, launched the business in October 2014 after noticing a lack of specialist, craft beer off-licenses in Nottingham city centre.

After relocating to Nottingham from Sheffield, Matt spotted an opportunity to achieve his life-long goal of becoming his own boss through launching the city’s first independent shop selling bottled craft beer. With the business idea in mind, Matt left his former role as a sales assistant and sought financial backing to launch the venture.

He approached The Start Up Loans Company for £25,000. After successfully securing finance, he used the Start Up Loan to assist with his cash flow, as well as fitting costs and purchasing stock in the early stages.

Almost three years on, Matt now employs two full-time and one part-time members of staff. He has also launched a ‘click and collect’ service for the business to grow its online sales revenue.

The growth of the business can be attributed to a wider demand for craft beer, which has seen the number of UK breweries reach almost 1,700 – up 65 per cent in the last five years.

Brew Cavern’s location on Flying Horse Walk is a ten-minute walk from what is said to be Britain’s oldest pub and signature landmark Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem.