Robinsons Brewery is to complete its £12m move from its historic home of nearly 200 years earlier than previously expected.
The Stockport family business first revealed its plans to relocate its brewing and head office operations from Lower Hillgate to its packaging centre in Bredbury in January 2022. At the time, the company said it expected to complete the project by 2025.
However the brewery's chairman, Philip Moody, has now confirmed the move is due to be completed and operational in the first half of 2024.
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When complete, everything the Stockport firm does - from brewing, cask racking and kegging, to bottling lines and logistics - will be housed at one site for the first time since 1949, fulfilling a long-held ambition of the Robinson family.
The update has been included in the company's latest financial results which show its turnover jumped from £63.3m to £83m in 2022. However, the company's pre-tax profits fell from £15.4m to £9.5m after a period of investment. During the year the average number of people employed by the brewery increased from 824 to 935.
In a statement signed off by the board, Mr Moody said: "2022 was a year of great uncertainty as it was the first full year following the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic on our industry and the first period when the new Brexit arrangements impacted skills availability.
"As if these weren't enough, we also saw the outbreak of the Ukraine war which has significantly impacted the energy market and driven inflation up, affecting food costs and consumer confidence.
"None of us really knew how the hospitality sector would rebound following the coronavirus pandemic of what challenges might be presented to us. As it turned out, the biggest direct challenge we faced as an industry was recruiting and retaining the staff to keep our pubs operating.
"The start of the year saw national shortages of HGV drivers and skilled team members in hospitality resulting in businesses competing for these services.
"Many commentators cite Brexit as the reason for this shortage but it was more likely a combination of that and that change in working practices that was driven by the coronavirus pandemic.
"However, it was the Ukraine war that had the biggest impact as it cast its shadow. Higher energy and food prices have fuelled inflation, causing not only an increase in our cost base but also challenges for our customers through the rising cost of living affecting their disposable income.
"We also experienced severe spikes in costs such as carbon dioxide used in our manufacturing process, triggered by the shortage of fertiliser from which this vital gas is a by-product.
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"Measured against this hugely challenging and disruptive economic backdrop, Robinsons performed exceptionally well, delivering an operational profit of £5.9m compared to the prior year of £4.5m, although a direct comparison across the two years is not relevant due to the impact that closures had in 2021.
"2022 saw continuing capital investment in both the acquisition of managed houses, refurbishment of our present estate, both managed and tenanted, and our commitment to a new brewery to be sited at our Unicorn Packaging Centre in Bredbury, as we seek to consolidate our manufacturing operations on that site."
The news comes after the lead singer of heavy metal icons Iron Maiden recently revealed how he had to 'audition' at a Greater Manchester brewery before bosses agreed to team up. They've since created a beer which has become a worldwide hit.
The band joined roces with Robinsons Brewery in 2013 to create and launch Trooper – named after the band's song of the same name. More than 35 million pints in 68 countries have since been sold.
That success led to the creation of Trooper IPA and a range of eight other seasonal and limited edition beers. Iron Maiden played to thousands of adoring fans at a sell-out show at the AO Arena last week as part of their The Future Past Tour.
