A BREWERY that was born in Bradford is to increase its brewing capacity by a fifth.

Northern Monk has announced it is set to invest £500,000 in new equipment and its main brewery site at Sydenham Road, in Holbeck, Leeds.

This will allow the company to increase its brewing level by 20 per cent, which equates to an additional 1.4 million pints of beer, or 8,000 hectolitres (HL), per year.

Northern Monk started life in a basement in Greengates 11 years ago in June, under current managing director Russell Bisset and co-founder David Bishop.

The business brewed around seven million pints from its original home, The Old Flax Store – a Grade II-listed mill in Marshall Street, Holbeck – and the main site, where it expanded to in April 2017.

Mr Bisset said: “After ten years of brewing, we’re entering a really exciting new era for Northern Monk.

“The increase in capacity represents a really positive period for us as we continue to attract new customers enjoying our beers, like Faith, in their local, to picking up a few cans from the supermarkets, to our innovative special releases in independent bottle shops, which are enjoyed by beer lovers who have followed our journey since the start.

“Due to this growth, we were pushing the limit of what our current site could handle and so this felt like the right time to make a significant investment in our facilities.

“It’s been a challenging few years for the industry as a whole with Covid, rising bills, political uncertainty and supply challenges acutely felt by the sector.

“We’re deeply grateful to our consumers and customers for their continued support which has allowed us to continue to grow as a company.”

Northern Monk opened The Northern Market at the start on November last year, in the former Assembly Underground premises, in Great George Street, Leeds.

Half of the ten best performing new craft beers in supermarkets were brewed by the company over the last 12 months.