Wild Beer Co has collapsed into administration and ceased trading while a search begins to find a new buyer. The Somerset-based brewer, which has a popular taproom at Bristol’s Wapping Wharf, celebrated a decade in business in August and was seen by many as one of the forerunners and success stories of the craft beer movement.
The homepage for the company's website has today (Monday, December 5) been updated with a statement saying: "Sam Talby and Rob Coad of Undebt.co.uk have been appointed as Joint Administrators of The Wild Beer Co Ltd with effect from 2 December 2022 and are managing the affairs, business and property of the Company. The Joint Administrators act as agents of the Company without personal liability.
"Sam Talby and Rob Coad are authorised to act as insolvency practitioners by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Insolvency Practitioners Association and are bound by the Insolvency Code of Ethics." The Times reported that the company had struggled to cope with rising production costs, but a spokesperson for Undebt told the newspaper they were “hopeful of interest in acquiring the business given Wild Beer’s strong brand".
Read More New Wild Beer site 'still on the cards' after raising more than £1 million from public
The Bristol bar was open over the weekend and was still marketing its Christmas parties and festive cocktails on its social media pages as it enters one of the busiest times of year for the hospitality industry. Wapping Wharf has confirmed on social media that despite the news, "the bar is still very much open."
The post continues, "Serving excellent seasonal comfort food, great beers and festive specials, they're a true hub of Wapping Wharf, so come and show them some love and support - they've also got plenty of Christmas gifts for the beer lovers in your lives so shop local and support small businesses. "
A statement released by Wild Beer on its social media pages read: "It is with heavy hearts that we regret to inform you that as of today we have entered into a period of administration. The administrators are attempting to seek out potential buyers to acquire the business, however, at this time we have made the decision to halt any trading.
"It has been a wild ten years and we are heartbroken to be in this position. We could see the potential for Wild Beer and we had ambitions to increase sales and brand exposure. We must sadly report that the company has been facing a number of adverse trading conditions including covid, the loss of export sales, spiralling production costs, damaging inflation, and an increase of interest rates that have all affected sales."
Launched in 2012 by publican Andrew Cooper and former Californian chef Brett Ellis, who met while working at the Bristol Beer Factory, Wild Beer Co started out in a dairy kitchen in Westcombe, producing 2,400 litres of beer a week. The brand now boasts a 600-strong barrel library, while its wild and sour beers grace supermarket shelves and are exported to over 22 countries.
Before the pandemic, there were indications that the company was under financial pressure when it was forced to shut a second taproom location in Cheltenham after around three and a half years. Andrew explained to Gloucestershire Live that the closure resulted from high rents and business rates, and an expensive pavement licence, as well as "the huge increase in food and drink business in Cheltenham".
Although the collapse of Wild Beer Co follows a national trend of craft breweries shutting up shop this year as they contend with rising energy and carbon dioxide prices, along with customers spending less disposable income, the news has been met with disbelief from some of those involved in the industry. Founder of QueerBrewing Lilly Whits wrote on Twitter: "Heartbroken for Brett, Andrew, and all staff. Wild played such an important part in my beer journey and were such an influential brewery.”
Guardian wine writer Fiona Beckett, who lives in Bristol, wrote: “Absolutely gutted to hear that news. Such an inspirational and creative brewery. Really hope something of it survives.” In March 2017, Wild Beer raised nearly £1.8 million from a crowdfunding campaign, backed by almost 2,000 investors at a £25 million valuation, to go towards a new production brewery and restaurant at The Bath and West Showground.
Two years later, however, Bristol Live reported that the work at the site near Shepton Mallet, less than an hour's drive from Bristol, had shown no sign of starting. Asked about the campaign in 2019, Wild Beer Co co-founder Andrew told Bristol Live the funds raised went towards purchasing a defunct brewery in Lovington, Somerset, as well as equipment so the company could increase its brewing capacity.
He added they were working on finding a "large investment partner" to help fund the project and were in discussions with people, details of which could not be revealed. "As a company, you take each day, month, year as it comes to move your company forward, and you make steps along the way to the bigger goal, and that's what all we're doing," said Andrew.
"We haven't found the large investment partner that we were looking for to be able to complete the project yet, but we've made steps in buying the equipment that was part of that project, and we've made steps to grow capacity by buying the brewery that had gone out of business.
"They're the steps we've taken towards the bigger project that's still on the cards, and we'll do it when we can afford to do it. It was always a twelve million pound project, and we raised some money towards that to kickstart it." The multi-use site was to allow Wild Beer to produce more than 12,000,000 litres of beer a year and was granted planning permission in October 2017, and Somerset Live reported at the time that it was expected to take about a year before building started.
On the Crowdcube page launched by Wild Beer, the company set out to raise £1 million to go towards the project but went beyond its target by raising £1,760,340 from a total of 1,937 investors. Laying out its plans for how the money was to be used, Wild Beer said the aim was to secure the land for the new brewery near Shepton Mallet, with the remaining costs estimated to be £7.8m to cover building, fit-out and contingency costs over an expected 24-month project.
On Wildbeer's original Crowdcube page, a disclaimer also stated: "The majority of start-up businesses fail or do not scale as planned and therefore investing in these businesses may involve significant risk. It is likely that you may lose all, or part, of your investment."
In an interview with Delicious Magazine published less than two months ago, when asked what advice they would share for would-be brewers, Andrew replied: “Find investors: people with like minds who will take a risk.”
Some commenters who invested in Wild Beer have expressed frustration on Twitter, claiming there had been a lack of communication from the company since it was reported over the weekend that administrators had been appointed. Wild Beer has been approached for comment.
Read More:
Old Market pub with cheap pints reopens after four-month renovation
Cow & Sow to open new Bristol restaurant less than a year after first site
Bristol steak restaurant Pasture to open butcher and burger joint, creating 50 jobs
Sales of Cava exepcted to be up 50% year on year this Christmas
