The End of the New Lion Brewery… or is it?

24th August 2023

The Brewery began in 2013 when Rob and Kathy Alexander, landlords at the Bay Horse Inn, had previously bought a building on South Street that had housed the original Lion Brewery,  a major brewer in Totnes until 1921. They felt it was time to bring the Lion back. Joining forces with another group with roots in the town’s Transition Town movement, who had been exploring the role a brewery might play in the town’s economic regeneration, they united around founding principles of sustainability, community, profitability and innovation.

Just over three years ago, 270 people invested in a community venture to expand the brewery business in the centre of Totnes to move to Dartington with larger premises and an expansion in conjunction with The Almond Thief. A Crowdfunding campaign successfully raised £176,000 from investors offering between £75 and £10,000 in just 42 days to be share owners in the venture.

It has been a brutal few years

Using the finances raised, the brewery moved into new larger premises in Webbers Yard, Dartington next door to the Almond Thief. They continued to produce the beers which won many awards both regionally and nationally. Totnes Stout being voted the Best Stout in the country in 2017 was a particular highlight. They also continued collaborations with different local projects like the Totnes Pound and Atmos Totnes, as well as a one that told the story of the wooden-hulled minesweepers built in Totnes during World War Two which was launched with the band British Sea Power.

More recently, the team successfully moved the taproom to Meadowbrook to re-invigorate a great community resource. The flagship beer was ‘Pandit’, a 4.9% pale ale that Totnes adopted as its own. New Lion director, Rob Hopkins noted that; “Any shortages were met with great collective wailing and gnashing of teeth, it was a wildly popular beer. I recently heard of someone who named their cat ‘Pandit’ because of it.”  Rob also says “We were a Living Wage Employer too which I’m proud of in these times. We had the courage to dream big and to try new things out, something increasingly rare and precious in the times we live in. I’m hugely proud of what it created, and of what it meant to people. Oh, and I got to DJ as support to Mike Joyce, the drummer from The Smiths, which made the 16 year old me deliriously happy.”

As with all hospitality businesses, the brewing industry felt the financial effect of the pandemic harder than most: Rob said “Covid hit us really hard, meaning we were opening, then closing, then opening, then closing ad nauseam, and the rise in energy bills saw a brewery that was already struggling see its energy bills treble. The general rise in the cost of everything caused by Brexit meant that we were pushing up against the ceiling of what people were prepared to pay in the time of a cost-of-living crisis, meaning we were being squeezed in all directions. It has been a brutal few years”

Can it be saved…

Then came a shock email that took many investers very much by surprise. On April 20th they were informed of serious problems with New Lion and… “as of Monday, the board of New Lion Brewery have made the decision to cease trading at the New Lion Brewery Taproom in Dartington in order to consult with our members on a new approach for the future of our currently mothballed brewery. ” .

For the majority of recipients, this was the first they heard of any issues with the brewery, angering some because of the community led nature of the business. The original prospectus stated: “Big decisions about the future of the Brewery will be made by you, the members, on a one-person, one-vote basis”. Giving the taproom over to “Things Happen Here” , would, to most people, amount to a big decision. Also, the notification that the brewery was ‘mothballed’ came as a shock to many.

 

I really hope the Phoenix group are able to revive the recipe.

The A.G.M.

An annual general meeting was held by zoom on May 2nd where 57 joined to be told that the New Lion was in serious financial difficulties. The directors said “It was both a difficult and a constructive conversation“. It was during this AGM that it was revealed that from the end of 2022: “…the costs of our energy bills went up from £800 a month to £2500 a month, and as the Brewery resolutely refused to be profitable, we took the decision to mothball the brewing side of the business.”. There was also news that members of staff had threatened to resign but then didn’t, admissions that the wage bills were unsustainable and indications that all was not well with internal relations and also with the landlords at Webbers Yard. Three of the five directors had also resigned, leaving the business solely with Rob Hopkins and Josh Howe. They also announced repairs needed in the Meadowbrook tap room were crippling the finances to the point where the main point of discussion was liquidation of the entire business.  From the minutes made by Rob Hopkins it is clear that there was anger and frustration at the announcements with a lot of emphasis on how the Taproom came to be passed over to the entirely seperate entity.

Rob states: * “…we had wanted to call an AGM for the previous few months, but firstly had been about to go into liquidation, which the legal advice we had was that we couldn’t discuss that publicly as it could be seen as favouring certain creditors over others, and then we were in a protracted HR dispute which we weren’t able to discuss for legal reasons. So the date we held the AGM was the first occasion we could do so. So it wasn’t for a lack of wanting to tell our members and discuss it with them, it’s because we were in a very fast-moving, difficult situation bound by constraints”.

When it was pointed out during the meeting that the “Things Happen Here” company was created on January 9th 2023 – several months before the taproom became theirs, this came as news to Mr Hopkins: “I wasn’t aware of that, and I’m shocked to hear that that happened so early in this timeline” 

Despite the atmosphere of doom and gloom at the meeting there were signs of positivity. Shareholder John Noakes said “Pandit is one of the finest beers I have ever drunk. The brewery has a lot of support locally. There would be a lot of goodwill. I wouldn’t want to stop here”. A deadline of 2 more months was set and another shareholder, Julian Wright offered to set up a group of anyone with interest to join him to work on a solution that would attempt to avoid liquidation.

 

The ‘Phoenix’ Group

A small core group started meeting regularly in the Bay Horse Inn to discuss viable options to save the brewery with director Josh Howe providing all the information needed, including the book-keeping to make onward decisions possible and designer, James Bassett, a very keen hobbyist who previously helped in the brewery joining to group to provide insight into the brewing processes, equipment and costs.

It quickly became clear that there was no possible option other than the sad liquidation of New Lion Brewery. The outstanding debts were simply too high to resolve. The group has since been volunteering to help Rob with practical matters at the brewery following the tragic move to liquidation and all shareholders losing their initial stake in the business.

Asked how he feels about the situation Rob said “I feel very sad that something so bright and brilliant and beautiful no longer exists, that 9 years of my own unpaid hard work has left us with nothing to show for it. I feel deeply grateful to everyone who played a role in it, and to everyone who shared their time and skills and love through being on the Board, or getting involved as members. I feel proud to have played a role in creating so many great memories for so many people. I feel like we gave this our everything, our blood, sweat and tears. We couldn’t have done more than that. “

With the working group failing to save the brewery it was agreed that the beer products made in Totnes are too good to lose and that a “New, New Lion” needs to be created. It would be set up with viability at it’s core. Len Carr of the group enthused: “Passion! I think that what unites us more than anything is the hope that we can bring Pandit back. More than that, bring it back better and more consistent than it was.”  Julian Wright stated “..it was clear that there was a collected determination to preserve a community brewing ethic.”

James Bassett, who was instrumental in preparing an onward plan and coined the ‘Totnes Lion’ as a possible new brand said “Brewing, for me, is driven primarily by the love of all beer, followed by a desire to brew better beer than I regularly encounter in pubs and shops.” He continued “Brewing is a highly addictive gig! You never stop striving to make small improvements whether that’s with recipes or with processess and cellaring.”

A thorough business prospectus has been collated and the group are inviting anyone interested to join them on the 6th September in the Bay Horse Inn where any questions will be answered. The group are especially interested in anyone who is prepared to lend time and skills, perhaps become a director or contribute financially. You can follow their instagram account – @totneslionbrewery or you can contact them directly by email to givemepandit@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Article updated with a statement from Rob Hopkins on 25th August

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