The opportunity of a lifetime awaits if you have ever dreamed of owning your own brewery, after a Cheltenham business that has become a legend among Gloucestershire beer lovers has gone on the market.
Founding father of Battledown Brewing Co, Roland Elliott-Berry, has put the family business he founded in 2005, with his wife and business partner Stephanie, up for sale.
The couple sold their Cheltenham-based agency Specs Art when the brewery, then based off Keynsham Street in Cheltenham, began to take off and have never looked back, but neither have plans to retire just yet.
‘It’s an emotional decision, but a positive one. The brewery is doing well, we have invested a lot of money to install the very latest kit and it is in good shape,' said Elliott-Berry, now 72.
‘I plan to return to the job I originally left to open the brewery — to work as an illustrator, but also making stained glass and doing paintings.’
A recent post on social media of her father working on his art by Elliott-Berry's daughter, Cicely — one of four of the couple’s six children who founded the popular Sibling Distillery — attracted more than one million views and enquiries have been flooding in from customers.
Cicely, whose business makes the popular Sibling Gin on the same site as Battledown Brewing Co, said: ‘Putting the business up for sale is a strange ‘heartstrings’ moment for the family. But he has grafted hard since he was a teenager and wants to slow his pace of life a little and have more time for his hobbies.
‘We all love the brewery, but we think that the time is right to sell the business to people with the energy to really push it forward.
‘It has a strong and loyal customer base and is ripe for growth with the right people at the helm.’
Stephanie currently also works for the distillery and plans to focus entirely on helping with the further growth of that business, too, which has plans to expand into the forthcoming Gloucester Food Dock.
Battledown is described as a five-star brewhouse making classic ales, lagers, IPAs and Stouts. It has a maximum capacity of 1,225 hectolitres (one hectolitre being equal to one hundred litres) with an additional two 5,000 litre tanks plus a large cold-store and keg storage area.
As well as the customer list, existing contracts and an expert handover, Elliott-Berry himself is also prepared to discuss remaining as operational consultant for a period to support any new owner.
