North Brewing sold to Kirkstall owner

The deal, announced yesterday (25 January), includes North’s Springwell Brewery and Taproom, as well as the North Taproom sites in Leeds and Manchester.

However, the transaction does not include the North Taproom in Birmingham, which will now close, resulting in 15 redundancies.

It comes after solicitors filed notices of intent (NOI) to appoint administrators​​ for North Brewing Limited, North Brewing Management and the company’s four-strong taproom estate North Brewing Leisure Limited on 15 January.

At the time the group cited 'the turbulence of Covid, Brexit, material cost increases, cost of living crisis and interest rate rises' as reasons why additional funding was require to secure its future.

Howard Smith and Rick Harrison of Interpath Advisory were subsequently appointed joint administrators of the three businesses on 25 January and immediately afterwards sold the businesses and its assets to Vertical Drinks Limited and Kirkstall Brewery Limited.

The businesses will now trade under the name Vertical Drinks Ltd T/A North.

North Brewing was founded in 2015 by Christian Townsley and John Gyngell, who will remain at the helm of the business.

“We’ve been friends and industry colleagues for almost 30 years,” says Holt, discussing the deal.

“North is an iconic beer brand that had to continue. Together, we’ll make sure that North will continue to make some of the best beer in the country.”

The group’s North Bar venues in Leeds, Harrogate and Otley were unaffected by the transaction and also continue to trade.