Castle Rock completes £6m refinance

Nottingham brewer Castle Rock has completed a £6m refinance to enable expansion at the firm's brewery.

The deal with Abbey Commercial Mortgages was put together by non-executive Tynemill director Geoff Newton of GN Solutions with support from John Callaghan of JFC Business Finance.

"Abbey put together a very competitive deal which our existing bankers were unable to match. In the current economic climate we are delighted to be working with Abbey in helping to grow the business," said Newton.

Chris Holmes, chairman of Tynemill, which owns the brewery and over 20 pubs in the East Midlands, said: "This restructure has enabled the company to go forward with confidence in these challenging times.

"Our brewery in Nottingham goes from strength to strength and this deal will enable us to expand operations there still further.

"Coming on the back of winning recent awards for Pub Group of The Year 2008 by the Good Pub Guide and two of our beers, Black Gold and Screech Owl winning awards at the 2008 Nottingham Beer Festival, has given the company a real fillip. We look forward to developing a close working relationship with Abbey in the future."

The deal was structured by Mark Tubbs, relationship manager from Abbey Commercial Mortgages which is part of the Santander Group, one of the world's biggest banks.

Tubbs said: "Abbey Commercial Mortgages have been expanding in the SME sector for several years, and this deal shows our continuing commitment to provide funding for successful businesses. This tailor-made facility for Tynemill provides them with certainty for the long-term".

Castle Rock is Nottingham's largest brewer and winner of the supreme champion award at the Society of Independent Brewers midlands regional beer competition 2008.