SCOTTISH BREWER Innis & Gunn’s Beer Money crowdfund has now closed. The brand sought to raise £3M to help finance the construction of its major new brewery which will open in Edinburgh in 2021. Over 3000 investors pledged £3.3 in total in exchange for just over 2% equity in the business. Investment has poured in from all across the UK, Europe and Scandinavia.
Further details of the brewery project will be released in the coming months. With debt-funding for the structural work already in place, the £3m Beer Money pot will be used to kit out the interior brewhouse, warehousing capability, and visitor experience. Each Innis & Gunn investor will have their name displayed on the wall of the brewery, which will be built at Heriot Watt University Research Park. The tie-up is the first collaboration of its type in the UK and largest major brewery in Edinburgh for over 150 years.
A host of benefits will now be rolled out to investors including free birthday pints at Innis & Gunn Brewery Taprooms, discounts and exclusive access to new beers.
Dougal Gunn Sharp, Founder and Master Brewer at Innis & Gunn said: We’d like to thank each and every one of our investors both old and new. We’ve dreamt of building a brewery in Edinburgh since we started this business, and you’re all going to be playing a key role in making it happen. Thanks again. Our now 5000 strong investor community are a part of our success, our proudest advocates and we can’t wait to raise a glass together in the new brewery.”
In the three years since its last crowdfund, Innis & Gunn has grown to 21 million pints and increased turnover to over £25m. Growth has accelerated through the launch of its award-winning Lager Beer which in 2018 grew by nearly 40%; it is the most valuable craft beer in bars and supermarkets in Scotland with market-leading rate of sale. Innis & Gunn Lager accounts for 3 of every 4 craft lagers sold in Scottish supermarkets. Innis & Gunn is also the number 8 take home alcohol brand in Scotland.
The brewer’s flagship beer Original represents around a quarter of our volume but around one third of turnover, thanks to its premium position and international footprint. It is Innis & Gunn’s lead international beer and has found acclaim and success in a great many export markets thanks to its multi award winning taste, premium positioning and unique qualities. The Original is the most awarded bottled beer in Scotland and a six-time Grand Gold winner at the world-renowned Monde Selection.
The brewer also successfully relaunched its pubs as Brewery Taprooms this year with takings up 30%. The Taproom concept will be rolled out across the UK with two new sites each year for the next three years.
