Ahead of its AGM today, Shepherd Neame has announced a £15 million investment, over three years, in a modern, smaller brewery on its town centre site in Faversham.
Alongside the brewery investment, Shepherd Neame will bring forward a 10-year development vision for its Heritage Core that will create a future new destination for the town and a home for the brewer’s story.
The company will move to a new brewing model that combines in-house production with certain outsourced functions, such as small packaging.
The new brewing operation will be located within the existing bottling hall, which will close in the middle of next year. The plant will use some of the existing brewery infrastructure, and will continue to draw water from its historic artesian well, in the heart of the site.
“We plan to invest £15 million in this project, over three years, to create a highly efficient and cost-effective facility, with a plant that will enable us to drive quality standards, improve the sustainability of our operations, and provide us with the flexibility to continue to innovate and develop our portfolio in a rapidly evolving beer market,”said the brewer.
“The investment will simplify operations and drive higher returns for the business. The build phase will take two years from commencement, with target completion by the end of 2029. During this period, brewing operations will continue in their present location.”
Shepherd Neame will focus only on brewing their own beers and will no longer enter large third-party brewing contracts. Their exclusive licence to brew and distribute Singha Lager will terminate at the end of April 2027.
The brewery investment is expected to be self-funded through the sale of non-core property. “We will reduce our town centre footprint to the Heritage Core, on the ‘island’ of buildings behind Court Street. The company will bring forward a 10-year Development Vision for the retained site that comprises offices, retail, a pub, events and hospitality space, an enhanced visitor experience, and a new large open-space Brewery Square.”
The brewer added: “The combination of the company’s pub estate and brewing remains at the heart of Shepherd Neame’s operations. Brewing is integral to our identity and ultimately, our prosperity. We will continue with our existing programme of sustained investment in our pubs to unlock the many development opportunities we have in our estate.”
