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From the
https://853.london by Darryl Chamberlain, 12 July 2019.
Hop Stuff Brewery sells out to Carling owner and leaves local
investors with nothing.
Hop Stuff’s Woolwich Taproom is part of the sale.
Woolwich’s Hop Stuff Brewery has gone into administration and been
sold to beer giant Molson Coors, leaving local drinkers who invested
in the company in its early days out of pocket.
The company, which was founded in the Royal Arsenal in 2013, hit
financial problems earlier this year after it failed to declare a
move to a new brewery in Thamesmead to the Inland Revenue, forcing
it to temporarily stop production.
After seeing off a winding-up order from a company which said it had
not been paid for work on a bar in Ashford, Kent, the Thamesmead
brewery, on White Hart Avenue, was repossessed by its landlord.
Administrators from KPMG were appointed to run the company on
Friday, with the company’s assets – including its Taproom bars in
Woolwich, Deptford and Ashford, its brewery and its brand – sold to
Molson Coors, which owns Carling lager and Sharp’s, the Cornish
brewery behind Doom Bar ale.
The company’s investors – many of whom were local to Woolwich – will
receive nothing from the sale, which came a month after the
company’s Twitter account announced: “Nearly there with something
great for Hop Stuff!” One of the founders of the company, James
Yeomans, set up a new company, JY Advisory Ltd, in March, while Hop
Stuff was in turmoil, according to Companies House records. His
wife, Emma Yeomans, who founded the company with him, resigned from
Hop Stuff in April.
“I am so sorry,” James Yeomans wrote in an email sent to investors
on Friday. “I wanted so much to turn the passion you have for Hop
Stuff Brewery into a financial win for you and I am absolutely
gutted that hasn’t happened.
“I want to thank you so much for your belief in us. You have helped
to build this business and I want to make sure that you continue to
feel a part of it. For my part, I am absolutely committed to
protecting the ethos of Hop Stuff and our brands and I am completely
confident that Molson Coors share that commitment.
“In Molson Coors we’ve found a partner who believes wholeheartedly
that craft beer should be accessible, inclusive and of exceptionally
high and consistent quality. With their support and guidance, we are
going to be able to start brewing again and be able to supply our
customers in London. Hop Stuff beers won’t disappear.”
Hop Stuff began with the aim of brewing ale for festivals, opening
with £58,000 raised from investors through the investment platform
Crowdcube. Many of its initial investors were from the Woolwich and
Plumstead areas. It rode the craft beer boom on the back of
crowdfunding appeals – and last year it raised over £770,000 for
further expansion. In total, it has raised over £1.5m from
investors.
Brewing stopped at Hop Stuff’s Thamesmead base earlier this year.
Yeomans added: “I would completely understand if you wanted to wash
your hands of us, but I very much hope that you don’t. If you’d like
to remain a part of our journey, together with Molson Coors, we will
be launching a Hop Stuff Collective for original investors who would
like to stay involved.
“Members of the Collective will receive exclusive access to key
events throughout the year, a product subscription, discounts and be
invited to be part of New Product Development through quarterly
tastings and innovation sessions at the brewery.”
Plans for a fourth Taproom bar, in east Greenwich, were abandoned
last August after Greenwich Council refused to give it a licence for
outdoor drinking, after a hearing in which Yeomans emphasised the
company’s local roots.
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