New plant for Badger brewer

The new brewery: An artist's impression

Hall & Woodhouse to spend £5 million

British regional brewer Hall & Woodhouse is set to splash out £5 million on the development of a brand new brewery, capable of producing more than 100,000 hl a year.

The new facility will use space on the firm’s existing site previously given over to the production of soft drinks, which ceased five years ago. The brewer of the Badger range of ales is still to name the contract-winner for the project.

“Hall & Woodhouse has been brewing Badger ales for over 225 years and this exciting new development ensures we will be doing so for many more generations to come,” said the firm’s vice chairman Mark Woodhouse.

“I believe an investment of this magnitude also demonstrates our ongoing commitment to brewing and to the continued growth of our premium bottled and cask ales.”

Sales of Hall & Woodhouse’s range of bottled ales have increased 11-fold in the past decade. Today the family-owned firm, based in the Dorset town of Blandford St Mary, claims a 9% share of the UK bottled ale market.

Commercial director David French told BG that the new facility will allow future volume growth, adding: “The present brewery has been altered many times. But the issue is that what we’ve got is a building that was stuck up 110 years ago.”