PRESS RELEASE
ST.
PETER’S BREWERY HONOURED IN QUEEN’S 80th BIRTHDAY
BUSINESS AWARDS
St.
Peter’s Brewery, based on the Norfolk / Suffolk borders near
Bungay, has had its success in selling in overseas markets
recognised by a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the
International Trade category in the 2006 Awards announced
today (21st April 2006), Her Majesty’s 80th
birthday.
The company, which operates from an historic moated Hall,
brews an award winning range of English beers and ales.
Managing Director, Colin Cordy, said that: “Recently we were
pleased to be named ‘Drinks Exporter of the Year’ by Food from
Britain and to follow this up with the Queen’s Award is an
enormous honour and thrill for all of us. Over 50% of our
total production is now exported. We now trade in seventeen
countries and have a strong presence in important overseas
markets including USA, Canada, Scandinavia, Russia and Japan.
We have put a lot of effort into developing special beers for
overseas markets. For example, our award winning English Ale,
a fully hopped ale using all organic materials is a top seller
in the US, while Honey Porter is a favourite in Finland and
Cream Stout is popular in Russia. Sales to Export markets have
increased by 83% in the last two years”
Commenting on the Queen’s Award, the company’s Chairman John
Murphy said; “I would like to thank our magnificent team at
St. Peter’s Brewery for all their hard work over the years as
well as our loyal overseas importers and agents and, of
course, our bankers, advisors and suppliers. This has been
truly a team effort and winning this award will spur us on to
even greater success in the future.”
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Background Information
St.
Peter’s Brewery is a privately owned company which was
established in 1996. It has a workforce of 20 and the brewery
is based in St. Peter South Elmham near Bungay. Additionally
the company owns St. Peter’s Hall, a medieval building which
is now run as a pub/restaurant and the Jerusalem Tavern in
Clerkenwell, London.
Britain has one of the largest brewing industries in the
world but only exports around 3% of total national production
(and this number includes Budweiser beer brewed for the
European market and English beers sold in Calais and other
Channel ports for re-importation). British beers are, however,
much appreciated by beer connoisseurs around the world as our
superb and distinctive ales, stouts, porters and bitters offer
an enjoyable change from the ubiquitous lager beers. St.
Peter’s Brewery was set up primarily as an export business and
the stated aim of the company is to become the international
brand of English beer and hence to become to English beer what
Heineken is to Dutch beer and Budweiser to American beer.
It
has not been easy to reach the level of sales we now have in
export markets. Beer is a bulky product which is relatively
low in value. We have had to contend with high shipping costs
(which have seen huge increases due to the cost of fuel
escalating in recent months) and strong competition from the
major international brewers who guard their market shares
fiercely.
