Spirit of London: Brewery taps into direct sales amid pub shutdown

More than two months have passed since the Government ordered pubs to close as part of the Covid-19 lockdown, in a move that has been devastating for the industry.

James Atherton’s Beerblefish Brewing Company is one of many London breweries which took a huge hit to their incomes when the hospitality industry closed overnight.

Mr Atherton, who founded Edmonton-based Beerblefish with his wife Bethany in 2015, said: “We are only a young start-up, but our brand had been gaining popularity, with our beers and gins being stocked in a number of north London pubs and some local delis. To suddenly have nobody to supply to was extremely worrying.”

He said the virus crisis forced the business to accelerate expansion plans it had been mooting for later down the line. The firm opened a takeaway shop, started selling five-litre kegs for the first time “to give customers the draft beer experience from home”, and embarked on a big social media push.

While the company waited for a licence to sell directly from its north London base, it contacted pubs selling bottled beer via takeaways to encourage them to take Beerblefish products.

To keep the brand on the radar of customers, Beerblefish started posting regular tweets about its beers and sharing recipes featuring its products, such as a gin and tonic drizzle cake. For the first time it also paid to promote posts on Instagram and Facebook to get the word out that it would soon open for collections.

The brewery’s collection service began on May 7 and has so far sold the equivalent of about 300 pints, as well as gin. The range includes kegs, bottled beers and cask ale, which is available for takeaway if customers bring their own sealable container.

Mr Atherton, 39, said one superfan walked for two hours from East Finchley to pick up beers.

In the longer term the firm may introduce a home delivery service.

Mr Atherton said: “Some of our new plans may not sound radical, but it’s a big change for us. We were a business that had 95 per cent of our trade with pubs. To suddenly start selling direct to consumers is significant.

“I am optimistic that this new revenue stream will benefit us greatly, and I’m excited about when pubs can reopen from the lockdown.”